by H. C. Mills
Oh man. Now what?
CHAPTER 48
O Captain, my Captain
“SO,” DAVE SAYS, “Either the council is legit and might get in our way as they intend to distribute spots ‘fairly,’ or they’ve gone rogue and are trying to get everyone to the doors, so they can kill them for their Qi Pearls, Minor Lavi Crystals, and Trial Points.”
“That about sums it up,” I say wearily. “Not much we can do about it now. We’ll have to wait for Jacob and Kaitlynn to wake up before we make a move.”
Dave nods, then hesitates. “Should we unfriend the council secretary, just in case?”
I purse my lips, then finally shake my head. “Nah, not much point to it. That might just make them suspicious; we’ll just have to keep guard.” I glance outside to see if Alec is taking his shift seriously. He seems pretty focused. “Also, Kaitlynn and Jacob won’t be able to unfriend him until they’re done levelling in about eight hours.”
“By which point we’ll be moving out anyway,” Dave finishes. “Fine. Then I suggest we plan for what happens if—when we succeed in walking through one of those doors.”
I nod approvingly. “I like your confidence. What were you thinking?”
“Well, assuming we get five minutes to ask questions again, it would be best to take them one by one if that’s allowed. I suspect it won’t be so convenient.”
Generally a safe bet in this place.
“We should make a list of questions,” he continues. “Or at least subjects, that each of us should ask about, whether it’s together or separately. And perhaps also what type of Skilldream purchases we should make, in order to function as a team.”
I shake my head. Man, this guy is organised. “I feel like I may have said this before, but I’m glad you’re on our team, Dave.”
He smiles and takes out a piece of bark and a sharp rock. “The feeling is mutual. Now let’s begin.”
After our planning session, Dave and I each take our turn guarding and resting while Alec starts work on Jacob’s armour. Though to be honest, I spend most of my resting time staring at Kaitlynn.
I mean, it’s not often you get to watch someone physically transform before your very eyes.
Over the course of the night, Kaitlynn’s skin slowly turns paler, with faint veins of silver forming a spiderweb-like pattern beneath, barely visible. At the same time, her hair becomes an even more vibrant shade of blue, and even her eyebrows seem to take on a bluish hue.
Jacob’s skin, conversely, turns darker. Unfortunately, the change doesn’t provide him with the healthy tan he sorely needs, but instead turns his skin a sickly grey that makes him look even more like a depressed vampire.
And of course, the beginnings of horns push through their skin. Kaitlynn’s are similar in overall shape to mine, except they’re smooth where mine are ribbed, and while mine curve back towards my ears, hers curve up towards the crown of her head.
Jacob is actually growing three horns, centred on his forehead in a triangle; two horns at the top, one at the bottom. Is he becoming a trigot? That would be something.
Silently I keep my vigil, half-Meditating, half-pondering all the while.
Jacob and Kaitlynn are up, our bags are packed, our plans discussed, the Twinstar has just ‘set,’ and we’re ready to go.
I clap my hands together. “All right, gang, huddle up.”
I wait for everyone to gather in a circle before I continue. “First of all, I have some spoils to divide.”
I take the pouch off my belt and hand out the contents: Alec, Dave and I each get a Minor Lavi Crystal and a pearl of our affinity, and Kaitlynn and Jacob get only a pearl.
Jacob looks quite stunned and moved to receive his. He’s definitely not used to the way we operate.
“I suggest you use them now,” I say, putting my own away. “We may be about to face the council, and can use every bit of advantage they may afford us.”
Alec hesitates, glancing at his Yin Qi Pearl. “You and I don’t really have any Skills that use Qi yet though. Right, Emma? What if the council demands some kind of toll?”
I snort. “Then they can receive it in the form of my foot up their ass. The second reason I suggest you use them up now is so they can’t be lost or stolen.”
Dave glances at my empty hands and raises a brow at me. “Where are yours?”
I shake my head. “I have plans for mine, but I need to ask my Personal Guide System questions about them first.”
He shrugs, then gulps down his Minor Lavi Crystal. It remains a weird thing to see, as the crystal is clearly too large to swallow when it enters the mouth, yet it goes down like it’s made of Jell-O. He follows it up with his pearl. Alec follows suit, and Kaitlynn and Jacob swallow their pearls as well.
“All right,” I say. “It’s about time we leave this place behind. Make sure you haven’t forgotten anything and go take care of your business if you need to, because there will be no potty breaks along the way. Yes, I’m looking at you, Alec.”
While Alec slinks outside wearing a guilty expression, Dave goes to check the packs one more time. Jacob does some stretching exercises, looking determined and ready for combat.
Kaitlynn glances around the hut with a wistful look on her face. Shit, I guess I’m actually going to miss this place a little too.
“We had some pretty good times here, huh?” I say, smiling morosely while I put my arm around her. She stiffens for a moment, then leans into me with a sigh.
I turn my head a fraction, so I can surreptitiously smell her hair.
Still impressive how good she smells. Almost weird, really, but I can’t say I mind.
Thirty minutes later or so—five hours before Twinrise—we draw close to our destination.
Door number six, because apparently, the doors are numbered.
The six doors are spread out over the wall opposite where we entered Hub Two, all at least a thousand feet apart. Door six is the one farthest to the right. According to Dave, the dot representing the council secretary on our map is hanging around roughly near where door number three should be, so we’re starting at number six and working our way down until we find an unused door.
I’d rather avoid a confrontation with the council or any other survivors, but if they are guarding the doors, at the very least they should be spread over three locations, which gives us an important edge.
We move through the canopy silently and swiftly. We’re all armoured in scaly blue leather—Alec managed to finish Jacob’s in time—and bristling with horns and weapons, so we should look pretty intimidating. Another edge.
Let’s hope it’s enough.
Door number six is huge and appears hewn from a single slab of rock. The ‘6’ on its front is very crude, the circle that forms the bottom of the number more a kind of crooked hexagon.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone guarding it, which could either be good news or bad.
Carefully scanning for hidden scouts or an ambush, we make our way down the trunk. We communicate only in hushed tones, relayed to our gang over the Social System.
I glance back and nod, before making my way down more swiftly. If there’s a lone scout hidden away here somewhere, it’d actually be better to make haste rather than wait for their reinforcements to show up.
My heart beats in my throat when I start crossing the last hundred-foot-wide clearing surrounding the door.
As I come within twenty feet, my stomach sinks. It should’ve opened by now, right? I keep going, just in case, until I finally lay my hand on its surface.
I knew an unguarded door was too good to be true. After all, the universe likes to pick on me. This one’s been used.
Door number five is also unguarded. And similarly unresponsive.
“What the hell!” Jacob swears. “Why is our luck so shit?”
I shrug. Nothing I’m not used to. “I’m sure the next door will be a winner. Let’s keep moving.�
�
Dave is still frowning at the door. “Hold on. What if it’s not a coincidence?”
I turn back. “What do you mean?”
“The doors are numbered...” he muses. “What if they open in order?”
My eyes widen. “Shit. Three doors have been used, so the next door to open would be number four. If you’re right, the council will almost definitely be guarding that door!”
Dave nods, looking grim. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Door number four is guarded.
Three council enforcers stand in front of it, decked out in black like usual, though their clothing is too bulky to just be clothing. They’re definitely packing some kind of defensive material underneath.
We study them from high up in a tree, hidden behind a bunch of leaves. I don’t spot any horns, so it should be safe to say they’re still Level 1. I recognise one of them.
Kaitlynn huffs.
I shoot her a questioning glance, but she evades my eye. Weird. “Kaitlynn’s right; Steve’s a stickler for the rules, always has been. He won’t do me any favours on account of our... acquaintanceship.”
I hesitate. There’s five of us and only three of them... I don’t really rate their chances of stopping us very high. Still, if we can convince or intimidate them into letting us pass without violence, that would be the best outcome in my book. But if we can’t convince them, trying to intimidate them would throw our chance at a surprise attack.
I ignore the small voice in the back of my head that suggests I kill them for the sake of their Trial Points.
However, the choice is soon taken out of my hands.
Steve’s head jerks up as if stung. He frowns, before calling out, “Emma? I know you and your team can hear me. Would you come out please?”
What? How? Damn. The council secretary must have checked his map and informed him. Perhaps we should’ve unfriended him after all.
Tch. I glance at Dave. The look he gives me says, ‘We might as well.’
Steve and his two pals straighten when we emerge from the underbrush at a light jog. We line up twenty feet in front of them, holding our weapons, but not brandishing them. Not yet.
I take a small step forward. “You’re in our way.” It’s a statement as well as a threat.
Steve’s gaze travels over all of us. “I can see that,” he says dryly.
“Come on, Steve,” I plead, levelling my spear. “Give me a reason not to attack you outright. ’Cause if you think I’m waiting for your reinforcements to arrive...”
He shakes his head, smiling wryly. “No need for that. We ain’t here to fight you,” he says and puts his crude club down on the ground. His pals look wary but they follow his lead.
I blink. This is certainly unexpected. If it’s a ploy to stall for time, then it’s pretty ballsy. Is this an effect of my new Charm stat or something?
“Look,” Steve explains, “the council ain’t in the business of stopping people from using the doors; you got every right to use it. If there were less of you, we’d ask to fill out your numbers, but since you’re with a full, levelled party, that don’t apply to you. We only ask that you stay inside the Hub a bit longer so our Chair can come over for a chat; communication will be cut off once you leave, and there’s something we try to pass along to all departing teams.”
It’s silent for a beat.
Jacob hisses, “This could still be a trap. Are we really going to risk waiting for others to show up?”
My gut reaction is to say no. We’ve come too far to stumble and fall now. My body tenses and my grip on my spear tightens as I ready myself for action.
But then I’m struck by the sadness shining through Steve’s face, “Please. Consider it a last request from her part,” he says.
Shit. My grip weakens.
I sigh. “All right... I’ll hear what she has to say. But you’re going to move right now. We’ll wait with our backs to an open door. Unless you have a problem with that?”
He hesitates, then shakes his head. He and his two fellow enforcers cautiously circle around us. One of them falters a bit and glances at his weapon, but I set him straight with a firm glare.
We walk up to the door, carefully watching them as we pass by. My heart beats in my throat as we approach. If that asshole tricked us...
The door grinds open. Beyond it lies a dark corridor, stretching farther than the light inside allows us to see.
I resist the urge to sprint through immediately. Instead, true to my word, I turn around and wait for Rebecca with my back to the open door.
“Hey, Emma,” Dave whispers after a few seconds. “I don’t believe we’ve informed the council about Bruce yet, right?”
Startled, I blink. “Shit, no we haven’t.”
He nods. “If communications are really impossible after we enter this door, this is definitely the time to do it. Should we try telling Steve?”
I drag my teeth over my lower lip, then sigh. “No, I know who I need to tell. Ugh, I’ve been putting this conversation off for too long... it’s going to be super-awkward now. Damnit. Suri, could you call Samuel for me please?”
[Will do.]
A tense few seconds later, a tired, reserved voice sounds in my head.
I cringe. “Ehm, yeah... that’s my bad. How eh, how’ve you been?”
It’s silent for a moment.
Oof, he sounds cold... guess I brought this on myself, though.
“I’m calling to, ehm... inform you about an altercation we had with another team. Bruce’s gang kidnapped Kaitlynn. We rescued her, but Bruce got away. I was hoping you guys might be able to apprehend him, or at the very least exclude him from your lottery.”
The world spins around me for a moment before grinding to a sudden halt.
“Excuse me?”
“He’s lying!” I blurt out. “Or at the very least he’s leaving things out.”
God friggin’—
“Now look here!” I say heatedly. My suddenly raised voice startles the twitchy council enforcers, but I’m getting too fed up with this guy’s tone and attitude to care. “I only found them after the first door opened, which, you may recall, was kind of a game-changer. And when I got back, Kaitlynn had already been kidnapped, by Bruce, who then threatened me not to contact you guys!”
It remains quiet for a moment, then Samuel sighs.
“But if he takes up a spot, someone else dies, who you know is innocent!” I argue.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” I drawl out.
“Thanks, but I make my own luck,” I reply tersely. “Suri, end the call.”
I relay the contents of the conversation to the rest in soft tones. They’re understandably unhappy about it, but there’s isn’t much to be done about it now.
In hindsight, I should’ve contacted the council sooner. Then again, we weren’t sure they could be trusted. Still aren’t, really. Not completely.
It doesn’t take long after that for Rebecca to show up carrying a small package, with two more enforcers in tow. She takes in the situation with raised brows, nods at her guards to stay behind, and slowly makes her way over to us.
When she’s ten feet in front of me, I raise my spear at her. She gives me an unimpressed look but puts the package down on the ground. It looks like the ragged remnants of a plastic bag, wrapped in a giant leaf and tied up with vines.
“What is it?” Kaitlynn asks curiously.
“Letters,” Rebecca says simply. “Carved in bark. Some are messages from people who never even made it this far, some from people who have no faith they’ll make it out of Hub Two. If you ever find your way back to Earth, please see to it that these find their recipients.”
