The Children of The Resistance (The Mir Chronicles Book 2)

by Leisa Wallace

  Gideon called her name from the edge of the camp. She ignored him. Pushing herself from the ground she walked to the nearest tree and she hit it. She didn’t know why, but it felt good. Ignoring the pain in her hand, she hit the tree again. She was frustrated. She needed to do more. She wanted to fight, to get back what had been taken from her. Instead, she was letting Gideon hide her away. Hit, jab, kick.

  “Eves?” Gideon called again. His voice sounded closer. Hearing it made her anger rise. She was mad. And suddenly all her anger turned towards Gideon. Why didn’t Gideon stop Zeke? Why couldn’t he have stopped Selene? Anger flared from her fists as she plunged them again into the hardness of the tree. This was Gideon’s fault. Faster and harder she kept punching until she heard Gideon step directly behind her.

  Turning towards him, she pulled back her arm and punched him on the side of the face. His head whipped to the side. Gideon quickly grabbed her arm. Using her free arm, she punched him again. He grabbed that arm, too. Lena yanked her arms from his grip and stumbled backwards.

  “You want to hit me?” he yelled stepping towards her.

  Lena swung at him. “This is all your fault,” Lena yelled. He caught her arm and twisted it behind her, spinning her so that his chest pressed into her back. She stamped on his foot. He didn’t move. Using her head, she hit him as hard as she could in the face. He pushed her away from him. She spun to face him. He wiped the side of his lip with the back of his hand leaving a red streak on it.

  Lena came towards him, totally irrational and started hitting him in the chest. Gideon didn’t fight back. She hit him over and over again until her hits were sloppy and soft. She felt Gideon’s hand wrap softly around her upper arms and lost all desire to fight him. She knew she wasn’t mad at him at all. She was mad at herself. Tears welled in her eyes and fell down the side of her face and her anger turned to grief.

  “You should have let her capture me,” Lena said. “I should have died in Everleigh,”

  “Evangeline?” Gideon said. She didn’t want to look at him.

  “It’s my fault,” she answered.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Jonah.” Her shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath. “That bullet was meant for me. Birdee got captured because of me. And my parents…” Gideon was holding her close now. Her tears wet the front of his uniform. “I miss my parents, Gideon.”

  He held her tighter. She could feel his breath on the top of her head. He held her as she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. Pulling her close he waited until her sobs subsided and she could catch her breath.

  “Everyone close to me dies.” She raised her eyes to Gideon. “I don’t want you to die, too, Gideon.” She could barely talk between the sobs.

  Gideon’s arms tightened around her back. The wind blew her loose hairs across her face. Reaching for her cheek, Gideon brushed the hairs aside. “Lena, there is one person at fault in all of this. It is not you. It is the Priestess Selene. Don’t let your mind become your enemy. This is her fault. No one else’s.” He touched his forehead to hers. “You are brave and strong. Focus on that, and not on all the bad things that are happening around you.”

  The air between them felt thick, but Lena didn’t pull away. She felt stronger with Gideon next her her. And for whatever reason, his words calmed her. They stood that way for several minutes, just breathing; Lena letting Gideon hold her.

  “We can’t let her keep doing this, Gideon,” Lena said as the tears ran down her face. “We have to do something to stop her.”

  Lena felt Gideon’s heart beating against her cheek. She let its pounding sooth her as her eyes dried. When Gideon didn’t reply, Lena pulled away and studied him. His posture fell and his eyes were filled with pity. She hated him looking at her that way, like she had been deceived by her own thoughts.

  Tern cleared is throat as he walked towards them. “Sorry ta interrupt,” Tern said. Lena jerked her head towards the sound. Gideon released his grip and slowly took a step back. “I did’n mean ta interrupt. But I wanted to talk to ya where the others coudn’ hear.”

  Gideon crossed both arms in front of him and nodded his head at Tern.

  “I’d like ta join your trek.”

  “You don’t know where we’re going,” Gideon replied.

  Tern continued talking. “It don’t take a genius ta figure out that ya need ta leave the planet. I’d like ta come with ya as far as the Port. Then I’m goin’ ta find Birdee.”

  “Why should we trust you?” Gideon said.

  Terns eyes glided between Gideon and Lena. “Because the Priestess has no love inside her. She doesn’ know what it is ta love—or be loved. Or ta fight for those ya love. She is selfish and unforgiving and cruel. I would never forgive myself if I didn’t do everything I could ta get the girl I love away from her. The same as you’re doin’.”

  Gideon held his eyes for only a moment before nodding. Lena silently prayed Gideon would let him come. She wanted to help Birdee and she could do that by helping Tern. “You can come with us,” Gideon finally said. Lena smiled. Tern’s chest relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief before tensing suddenly. Turning his head, Tern’s ears perked towards the woods. Hunching, he darted into the forest surrounding them.

  “Stop where you are,” Lena heard Tern yell.

  “We are unarmed,” a voice yelled back. “We’ve been looking for our friends. Our tracking device led us here. We are not here to hurt you.”

  “Druinn,” Gideon and Lena said at the same time as they darted towards their pilot. Myri stood next to him. At the first sight of Lena, Myri dropped her hands and ran towards her. Lena fell into Myri’s arms.

  “You’re safe. Stars above, what happened to you both,” Myri asked. Releasing her hold on Lena, she examined her face. “Oh, Lena. What has happened?” Myri said, sounding so motherly Lena began to cry all over again. Lena just shook her head, not knowing where to even start. Lena heard Gideon come up beside her. Druinn moved in so they now formed a circle.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe,” Lena said. “How did you do it?” For the first time in days Lena felt a part of herself relax.

  Druinn looked grim. “After Jonah led the Cimmerians to our ship. I hid Myri and myself in a slot of the canyon just behind our ship. No one even looked for us. The Cimmerians left our ship disabled. It didn’t take long to fix it, but by then we lost your trail. We figured you’d been captured or worse. Then we got your signal again and made our way here. What happened to you guys?” Druinn asked.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lena stood in the ship's bathroom and examined herself in the mirror. Dirt was caked in her hair making it a matted mess. Tear marks streaked down her dirt covered face. Newly formed scabs covered her knuckles where she’d hit the tree. Myri knocked at the door and handed her some clothes. They were Lena’s clothes from the Defense Facility. She’d left them in the ship before the Cimmerians captured them. They were folded and smelled like fresh laundry. Myri must have washed them. Lena turned on the shower and stepped inside. She didn’t know how long it took to get everything clean, but even with her clean clothes, she still felt dirty on the inside.

  She looked across the countertop hoping to find a comb. Her heart skipped a beat. Sitting in the corner of the vanity sat a box filled with several small electronic-looking pieces. Lena knew immediately that they were pieces of the device Dorry had given her.

  “Well, do you remember when I said I was working on making up for past mistakes? Well, I’ve finished it. And I need you to take it with you when you leave.”

  “What exactly does it do?” Lena asked.

  “Agency, my dear girl. Agency. It will give it back to those from whom it has been taken.”

  She had broken it when she parachuted from the plane in an attempt to escape the Priestess, but the device was more broken than when she saw it last. It must have fallen out of her pocket when the Cimmerians captured them. Myri must have found it and put it here. Lena brushed the
pieces with the tips of her fingers. Maybe someone had stepped on it, she decided as she studied it. Picking up the pieces and tried to figure out how they went together. Dorry had given her instructions to take it to Everleigh and to keep it safe. She hadn’t known what the gadget was suppose to do, but after seeing Zeke being controlled, she wondered if it might counteract the effects of being controlled.

  Coming out of the bathroom she saw Gideon sitting in front of the holo rewinding the same footage over and over:his father on the cliff; his jerky movements; shooting Jonah.

  She walked up behind him. “Where did you get this footage?” she asked.

  “This ship belongs to Tarek’s dad. It has access to the satellites on the Interplanetary Military Academy,” he answered not taking his eyes off the screen. Lena watched the footage, closing her eyes where Jonah got shot.

  “You know what’s happening to my dad,” Gideon said more as a statement than a question. “On the cliff, you knew it was Selene controlling my dad.”

  Lena paused before answering, taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts. “I think I know what’s happening with your dad,” Lena responded setting the box on the table next to him. Gideon turned from the holo and looked at Lena. “Dorry… he told me of a technology he created that could take away a person’s agency,” Gideon’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t interrupt so Lena continued, “He said this technology had been used once before. I think it was used it in Everleigh.”

  “You think he used this tech on my father?”

  “I think someone used this tech on your father. I know Dorry regrets inventing it,” Lena answered. She held her breath as Gideon looked into the space beyond her. He stood and clenched his fists and relaxed his jaw he took a step forward and clasped his hands then unclasped them. Lena studied his face confused at his reaction.

  “My father is being controlled,” he said.

  “I believe he is,” Lena said. “His actions on the cliff only confirm my suspicion.”

  Gideon let out an audible breath and grabbed the back of his head with both hands. Lena didn’t say anything as Gideon stared at the screen in front of them. He turned to Lena, “You know what this means?” Lena shook her head. The array of emotions on Gideon’s face was hard to read and she didn’t know what he was referring to. “He didn’t choose her, Evangeline. He didn’t betray us.” Now Gideon’s eyes were filled with tears. He quickly wiped them away and covered it up by readjusting his posture and looking way from her. He noticed the box filled with the broken pieces. “What is this?” Gideon asked.

  Lena looked at the broken device, her stomach in knots. “That is the answer,” Lena said.

  ***

  The box of pieces now sat on the table in the middle of the ship. Tern, Druinn, Myri and Gideon stared at it as Lena spent the next few minutes relaying to the others exactly what Dorry had told her about agency and the device. Myri confirmed that she had found it in pieces on the bathroom floor. Gideon absentmindedly picked up a piece with gold wires protruding from it. He turned it over in his fingers, and dropped it back into the box. He picked up a jagged piece that looked like it was part clear plastic and part silver screws holding more gold wires. Most of the pieces looked like broken wires mixed with bits of plastic. Gideon didn’t seem to care what the device looked like, his mind seemed far away.

  “So,” Druinn said, breaking the silence. “What is your plan now Captain?”

  Gideon dropped the piece he was now holding and pushed the box away from him. He wiped his hands on his pants as he replied, “The same. We need to get to the Port. If anyone can fix this device, it’ll be there.”

  Lena’s heart fell. She hoped this would be reason enough for him to change his mind to keep them here on Mir.

  “Plus,” Gideon said, “we should let Tarek and Azara know we’re safe.” Gideon flushed as he said Azara’s name.

  Lena quickly looked away from him. She felt weird thinking about Azara and Gideon. Myri nudged her with her elbow and raised her eyebrows. Now she felt even more awkward. Luckily Druinn started to talk.

  “Do you think Jonah told anyone about your plans?” Druinn asked. Lena felt a flood of relief that they’d changed the topic away from Azara.

  “I don’t think so. Jonah wanted to use the information to secure our participation and his position. Our biggest danger is that the Defense troops are looking for us,” Gideon said, straightening his shoulders.

  “We can get you to the city of Arc without being seen,” Druinn said. “Unlike the Cimmerians, our ship has a working cloaking device and Myri can confuse the Defense radars without a problem. But entry into The Port is heavily guarded. The good news is, at this point, we don’t think anyone is looking for Myri and me. The Cimmerians didn’t seem to care about us when you were captured and we’ve steered clear of any Defense system, so we can probably get into The Port without a problem. The bad news is, we won’t be able to sneak the ship in while it’s cloaked. And, according to reports, the Defenses are searching each ship that enters.”

  “So we’d need to find a way to sneak through Arc to its center where The Port is located?” Lena asked.

  “Not only does Arc encircle The Port, The Port is encased in a protective shield. You can only enter The Port through specific, guarded locations. We’ll have to figure out a way to get you through the entrance without being caught,” Druinn explained.

  “I can help with tha’,” Tern spoke for the first time since entering the ship. The group all looked at him without answering. “I’m good at sneakin’ around without gettin’ caught. The best—besides maybe Birdee. I can do it.”

  Gideon took a deep breath and looked around the room. Everyone nodded in agreement at Tern’s offer to help.

  “To the City of Arc,” Gideon commanded in reply.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lena felt the ship land. Druinn and Myri came down the ladder into the common area. “We’re outside the city of Arc in the poorer, less guarded part of town. Let me remind you that the closer you get to the center where The Port is located, the heavier it’s going to be guarded,” Druinn said. “Myri and I will hole up here. We discussed it and want to be near if you need anything or if things don’t go as planned. Once you’re safely off Mir, send us a message and we’ll make our way to The Port and then home.”

  Gideon lowered his head. “Thank you, Druinn. I know what you might sacrifice by doing this.” Gideon grabbed Druinn’s shoulder in thanks. They held each other's gaze a moment before Gideon turned towards Lena and Tern.

  “Are we ready?” Gideon asked.

  Lena and Tern nodded their heads and followed Gideon out of the ship to the outer edges of Arc. Even from miles away they could see the giant forcefield surrounding The Port. It’s surface shimmering a collage of different colors. Its dome reached through the atmosphere beckoning ships to come to the small planet. Lena felt a wave of anticipation mingled with fear. She’d finally get to see The Port. The place so many people from Everleigh talked about. The place her father had kept her away from for safety reasons. She focused back on the street she was on. Walking past the first run-down buildings Lena had to be careful where she stepped. The smell caused Lena to cover her nose with her hand. Only a few people walked the streets. Abandoned vendor carts lined the roads. Garbage lined the rest of the empty spaces. The further in they got, the more people they started seeing. Scruffy vendors called to them selling run-down merchandise. Children’s dirty faces looked through glassless windows. Their eyes were wide and fearful. When Lena met their gaze, they immediately ducked their heads. Hushed whispers filled Lena’s ears. Older children grabbed the younger ones by the hand and pulled them into the tumbled-down corridors.

  “They think you’re one of the Priestess’,” Tern whispered to her. “It’s your clothes. You’re wearing a Defense uniform.” Lena looked down at her training uniform as Tern took off his animal skin coat to cover her. After that people looked at them less.

  They walked until they
saw an inn. Its holographic sign flickered on and off as if it had a short in the wiring. Lena’s immediate thought was of how Dorry would have her fix it. They walked inside.

  The smell of animal urine wafted from the doorway, Lena took a step back before holding her breath and following Tern to the desk.

  “Can we have a room?” Gideon asked.

  A fat man, with greasy unkempt hair, looked up from the desk. He looked to Gideon, then Lena, and gave an uneasy half smile.

  “Show me your money,” he said.

  Gideon pulled out the cash Druinn had given him. The man's face turned into a grin. “It’ll be double for such short notice.”

  Lena knew the man was taking advantage of them but Gideon handed over the cash without question. The man then offered them an electronic key with a room number attached.

  “Pig,” he yelled. “Pig! Where is that lousy boy? I feed him and he’s not even here when he needs to be.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m here,” A small boy said. He couldn’t be more than seven or eight as tiny as he was.