by R. D. Brady
In the dim light, Adros’s face looked harsh, but his eyes were haunted. Riley knew he was thinking about the abuse his sisters had suffered at the hands of their father, and the abuse that Riley suspected that Adros had suffered as well when he was younger. “You’re right. No one who abuses a child should be given leniency.”
They walked in silence for a while longer, both of them lost in their thoughts. Riley’s gaze kept straying to the mothership above. From this angle, it looked larger than even New City. Doubts crept into his mind. If Miles was still alive, how were they going to find him in all of that? What if their intelligence was wrong? What if he wasn’t in the prisoner cells like they thought? There were so many things that could go wrong that it was almost overwhelming.
But Riley knew he had to shut down all of those thoughts. He had to deal with what was directly in front of him. That was all he could do. And giving room to those thoughts would only open the door to him messing up. And this was simply too important to allow that to happen.
“Do you think …” Adros paused. “Do you think Miles is still alive?”
No one had asked him that question directly in the entire time Miles had been gone. They’d probably thought they were sparing Riley’s feelings. But each day, each hour, he’d asked himself exactly that. Was Miles gone and they just didn’t know it? Had he been gone all this time? The idea of Miles’s body cold and still, lying inside the mothership, tore him up inside. He shook his head. “I don’t know. But it doesn’t change anything. We’re still doing this.”
Adros’s voice was low. “Yeah. And either way, we’re doing it for Miles.”
A lump appeared in Riley’s throat. His eyes burned with tears, so he just gave Adros an abrupt nod, because he was right. Whether Miles was alive or dead, they were doing this for him.
Either to free him or to honor him.
76
The two veerfinah took off into the sky. Standing next to Arthur, Lyla watched as they headed for the mothership. She knew that dozens of eyes were watching the ships as well, all of their hopes pinned on the success of this next move. If this didn’t work, then the entire mission was off.
And their chances of saving Miles would be gone. But she had faith this plan would work. Ta’Chiko had shown her exactly what to do. Now they just had to pray that Pxedlin was as skilled at piloting the ships remotely as she was at removing the trackers.
The veerfinahs flew side by side for a while, and then one veered off toward the left while the other continued straight. The one that went straight disappeared into a landing bay. Lyla let out a small breath. One down.
The second veerfinah continued its circular pathway around the ship. Lyla tensed, waiting.
The ship increased its speed for just a moment and then slammed into the side of the mothership. The explosion sent flames flying into the air, and even from this distance Lyla could see small pieces of metal falling from the ship.
A second explosion erupted from the landing bay where the first veerfinah had landed. The designs for how to rig the veerfinahs to explode had been another little nugget of knowledge from Ta’Chiko, along with the most critical targets to hit.
Lyla grabbed Arthur’s hand, holding tight. Please work. Please work, she prayed silently, not taking her gaze from the behemoth of a ship.
And then her prayers were answered.
The mothership tilted to the left only slightly before wobbling back to the right. Someone was trying to arrest control of the ship, but with something of that size, it couldn’t be easy. It was quickly reducing its altitude while it wobbled from side to side. Lyla watched half in horror and half in awe as it quickly descended. She scanned the ground below it, trying to figure out exactly where it would hit.
It looked like it would crash on the east side of New City. She had one warehouse over there.
Screams of metal accompanied the ship as it headed for the ground. The whole ship was dipping dramatically as if it wanted to turn completely on its side. Whoever was flying it was doing a heck of a job keeping that from happening. But they would not be able to keep it in the air much longer.
“Let’s go.” She squeezed Arthur’s hand once before grabbing the rungs of the ladder that were attached to the side of the building and quickly climbed down to the street. She didn’t need to speak with Montel or Arthur about the plan because everyone knew what it was. And she knew where she needed to be.
On the ship. Finding Miles. And finally bringing him home.
77
Riley and Petra had watched the veerfinahs explode on the mothership from the second-floor window of the building of the old furniture warehouse. Everyone else was downstairs on the main floor.
After the initial explosions on the ship, Adros appeared behind them, staring out into the streets. “They’re going nuts out there.”
Riley nodded without turning around. “Does everybody know what they need to do?”
“We got it. And everyone knows kids are the priority.”
Lyla had decided that the kids in New City were the priority for anyone no matter what their goal was. Anyone who saw a child in danger was required to help that child. Adros was in charge of arranging for the children to get out of the city. They didn’t want to cause the kids any additional trauma. But if any of them looked like they didn’t want to be with the people they were with, they were under instructions to remove them.
The kids would then be taken back to the Gatsby. Of course, no one really knew what would happen after that. For some of them, their parents might still be out there, but finding them would be next to impossible. For others, the parents might be the ones who’d turned them in. But like a lot of other things, that was a problem for another day.
“Almost time,” Petra said, her eyes glued to the descending ship. “Looks like it’s going to hit on the outside of town.”
Adros craned his neck to look up at it. “You sure it’s not going to hit us?”
Riley squinted, tilting his head. Adros was right. It was going to come close. But he thought it would probably hit a little closer to the gate than where they were. But just in case …
“Adros, get everybody downstairs and ready to move in case that thing does come a little closer than it looks, okay?”
“You got it.” Adros disappeared out the door, his footsteps loud on the stairway as he made his way down.
“You ready for this?” Petra asked.
Riley just nodded.
“He’s still alive, isn’t he, Riley?”
Riley glanced down at Petra. She was easily one of the toughest people he knew. Nothing ever seemed to rattle her. But right now, she looked scared. And he knew she wasn’t scared of the fight to come. She was scared that they would fight their way onto that ship, they would make it to the cells, and Miles would be gone.
He was scared of exactly the same thing. But that fear wasn’t going to help them right now. That fear was going to make them question what they did. It would make the reaction time slower; it would make their choices poor. So he shoved it all aside and gave her a nod.
“He’s still alive. Now let’s go get him.”
78
Miles’s eyes flew open as the entire mothership jolted. And then it jolted again, this time even more violently. Miles was thrown from his cot, landing hard on the floor. He pushed himself up, shaking his head.
What the heck?
Outside his cell, two Unwelcome stood unsure in the middle of the hall, looking down the hall and then back at one another. Miles blinked, not sure if it was Dexender and Gaxdrill or the night shift. He’d slept hard, and he was pretty sure if not for the massive jolt to the ship, he would have continued sleeping just as soundly.
He got to his feet and hurried to the glass divider. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Dexender said. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
A shudder ran through the ship. Miles threw out a hand to steady himself against the wall. In the hall, De
xender and Gaxdrill stumbled, nearly falling before they caught themselves on the wall.
“This can’t be normal,” Miles said.
An alarm sounded, and red lights along the edge of the roof began to flash.
Dexender stared up at it, not moving. Gaxdrill went equally still.
“What does that mean?” Miles asked, looking at Dexender.
But Dexender didn’t answer. It was Gaxdrill who stepped forward. “It’s a collision alarm.”
Miles frowned, trying to figure out how that was possible. “The ship collided with something?”
Dexender shook his head. “No, it’s about to collide with something.”
The door at the end of the hall slid open, and an Unwelcome appeared. He hustled down the hall toward them. “There have been two explosions. One in the landing bay and one along the exterior of the ship. The ship’s lost the ability to stay airborne. We’re heading for the surface.”
The Unwelcome flicked a gaze at Miles before returning his focus to Dexender and Gaxdrill. “It’s our chance. We’re regrouping at Landing Bay 28. The Naku are scrambling. They weren’t prepared for this. I’ve never seen them like this. If we’re going to do something, now’s the time. I need to go tell the others.” Without another word, the Unwelcome sprinted back down the hall.
Dexender and Gaxdrill looked at each other for a long moment.
“Take me with you,” Miles said.
Gaxdrill shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Miles asked.
“We can make our way around the ship and not be noticed. But if you’re with us, they’ll know for sure that were up to something.”
Miles shook his head. “No, they won’t. They’ll think the Naku are having you transfer me to somewhere.”
“I don’t know,” Gaxdrill said.
“I do.” A second Unwelcome stormed down the hallway toward them. Without waiting for a word from either of the Unwelcome outside of Miles’s cell, the Unwelcome waved its bracelet over the scanner. Miles’s glass door slid open.
He stepped through, nodding at the Unwelcome who’d joined them. “Thanks.”
“It’s the least I owe you.” The Unwelcome reached up and pulled off her helmet.
“Anixquold.”
Anixquold nodded. “I’ll get you off the ship. Get you back to your people.”
Miles looked at all the Unwelcome. “If you guys are really leaving, I have a place for you to go. You can get your bearings, figure out what you want to do, but it’ll be a safe place for you to start out from.”
Gaxdrill shook his head. “Why would you help us? We’ve helped the Naku keep you prisoner. We stood by while you were tortured.”
Miles stared at the Unwelcome, images from his time on the ship flashing through his mind. Gaxdrill was right. He could have helped him. But in all likelihood, if any of them had, the Naku would have simply killed them. “Yeah, you did. But you guys have been slaves. You had no choice over your actions. And then when you started to have choice, you helped me in small ways. The Naku can still get into your brains. I don’t have that problem. But even with the small pressure I felt, I understand how difficult it would be to fight against that. So look, if you want my help, you have it. It’s up to you.”
The alarm picked up its pace. The ship tilted at a steep angle. Everyone crashed into the opposite wall. Anixquold crouched down low. “We’re going to hit. Get down!”
Miles immediately crouched along the edge of the floor. The screech of the engines signaled that they were picking up speed, or maybe that was them trying to slow down. But the ship stayed on its awkward angle, vibrating so hard that a ceiling panel dropped into one of the cells farther down the hall. In all the ways he’d pictured dying on this ship, crashing had not been one of them.
And after everything he’d been through, Miles prayed that this was not the way it did end.
He was facing Anixquold and met her gaze. She looked up at him. “Thank you for sparing my life.”
He nodded, knowing no other words really needed to be said. So instead he reached out and took her hand, squeezing it slightly. Surprise flashed across her face, but she didn’t pull away. She ducked her head down, and he did the same, preparing for impact.
79
New City was in complete chaos.
The streets were jammed with people. All the residents of New City seemed to have emptied out of the buildings as the mothership headed for the surface. Most of them stood staring up at the giant spectacle, but a few of the smarter ones were heading for the exits of the city. But whether standing still or running toward the nearest gate, all the residents seemed to realize that the cushy little life they’d created for themselves had come to an end.
Lyla dodged and weaved between different individuals as she headed toward the edge of New City. It looked like the mothership was going to come down somewhere around the research building. Lyla hoped that it smashed the thing into smithereens.
But in the next thought, she discarded that wish. The research building was right on the edge of the falls. If the ship landed in the water …
She shook her head. No, that couldn’t happen. But at the same time, she couldn’t get the image of the ship slowly filling with water out of her mind. She pictured Miles being trapped inside as a wall of water raced toward him.
The fear that had already taken a hold of her ratcheted up as she tortured herself with images of Miles dying in a watery grave.
She shoved the image aside. She’d worry about that if she had to. Right now, she needed to get to the ship.
The closer to the edge of the city she traveled, the more clogged the streets became. More and more people were heading away from the research building. She was one of the few that were heading toward it. She ducked onto a sidewalk, sprinting as three large men stumbled to a stop, arguing about where to go.
Ahead, a McGovern stepped from what look like an apartment building. He stood looking up, blocking the way. Lyla didn’t slow. She rammed her shoulder into the guy, sending him flying back into the side of the building. His face crashed into the brick with a crunch. It wasn’t pretty, but Lyla felt no remorse.
Frustration rolled through her as she scanned the street ahead. The crowds were getting even larger. She turned down a smaller alley, sprinting past a filled dumpster but had to come to a near dead halt when she reached the other road. The crowd was packed tight.
She pushed through, fighting her way against the crowd, and realized that since she’d arrived in New City, she’d only seen one Unwelcome. Jane’s source had been right. Had the rest really been recalled to the ship?
Ahead, she could see the mothership growing ever closer. Gasping cries of alarm went up through the crowd as the shadow of the large craft fell across the streets. Lyla sucked in a breath. It was so big. And it looked like it was about to crash right down on all of New City. But then it edged slightly toward the boundary of the city.
On its current trajectory, it would miss the research building. Instead, it would hit somewhere near the main gate. The fleeing residents seemed to realize the same thing, as all of a sudden the tide of people shifted, heading for the farther side of the city. Spying a gap in the crowd, Lyla sprinted forward, heading straight for the ship.
If it hit where she thought, there was a warehouse filled with fighters nearby. It was the one Riley and Petra were at. She picked up her pace, knowing that Riley and Petra would not wait for anyone. They would storm into the ship to find Miles, just the two of them.
With a scream, a man ahead went down inside a panicking crowd. In the sea of bodies, Lyla didn’t see him get up or see anyone stop to help him. But the change in the height of the runners told her all she needed to know about the man’s fate.
Lyla didn’t stop. These people had the death of children on their hands. They did not deserve her help.
The mothership took out the roof of a nearby building. Screams and the sound of concrete falling f
rom high above joined the sounds of chaos. The mothership crashed through six more buildings on its way down. Each building it hit got progressively more destroyed, before it crashed into the wall surrounding New City and slammed into the Earth. The ground shook violently. Lyla stumbled to her knees as the ground bucked. When it stilled, she got to her feet.
Ahead of her, half an apartment building was gone. The buildings, walls, floor, and even furniture were strewn around the street. She stopped short as she caught sight of a body lying facedown in the rubble.
Lyla stumbled as the ground trembled. An earth-shattering shriek cut through the air. Lyla looked up. The mothership was resting on the edge of the river overlooking the falls. And then with a heartrending screech, half of the ship tilted toward the falls.
Lyla’s breath whooshed out of her lungs as she watched in disbelief as the ship broke in two. Half of it collapsed toward the river below but hit the edge of the bank, not submerging. The other half tilted toward it, seeming as if it was going to follow for a moment before it wobbled back in the other direction. And then it came to rest at a slight angle on top of the wall.
Lyla’s heart pounded. She was pretty sure the half of the ship that remained firmly on the ground was the part they believed that Miles had been incarcerated in. But they had no way of truly knowing.
She got to her feet and started to run even faster, praying that he was still alive and that she hadn’t been the one to sign his death warrant.
80
As the mothership touched down, the whole Earth shook. Riley grabbed onto the edge of the window frame, watching as the mothership tore through building after building before smashing to a halt. His mouth fell open at the destruction left in its wake. He knew this was the plan, but to see it in action …
And then the ship had hit, and both he and Petra had been knocked off their feet. Petra regained hers first. She gripped Riley’s arm, pulling him up. “Let’s go.”
