WHEN HEROES FALL

by Abby J. Reed

  Almost—almost—

  Scorpia ripped from my grasp.

  One sec she was there, next sec I only held a fistful of hair. Platinum strands wafted in the navy current.

  What—

  A hefty weight on my shoe. The sensation of being sucked down. Scorpia’s hand locked onto my foot. Her other stretched out, straining, pleading—

  Her foot had caught on the hatch. The ship was sinking . . . And she was taking me with her.

  The last remaining bubbles burst from my throat in horror. The view of pale sky and turquoise ice and warm safety shrank like a dream out of reach as we were dragged together into the dark.

  Chapter 34

  MALANI

  Stepping into the old lab was like stepping into a strange déjà vu. At one point in time, I was here. At one point in time, this place meant something important. An odd push-pull sensation. Memories tugged me backward, but I could not remember enough to keep me there. I expected to be frozen by the vividness of the room. Instead, this place had faded so completely, it was no longer a part of me.

  I twisted slowly, releasing Breaker to poke around by himself for a couple mins. Parts of the room were trashed. A glass case had been busted open. The chairs turned over. If this space had been out of use, there probably hadn’t been much for the Heron survivors to use in their escape.

  My eye snagged on the recess in the back, covered by heavy shamrock-hued drapery. A humming sensation thrummed in my body: Important.

  I was here before too. Staring at the drapery. Afraid, not wanting to open it.

  Remembering that fear. A déjà vu of a déjà vu.

  I glanced behind at Breaker. He searched the cracks and crevices, examining an old broken computer. He shook his head and dug through some storage boxes that had been knocked out of a cabinet. Based on the scrapes around the busted lock, somebody had tried to open it, maybe thinking there was something helpful inside.

  My hand acted of its own volition. I grabbed the fabric—rough and familiar—and ripped it away.

  Behind lay a clear box, small enough for a child.

  The box from my nightmares. It was . . . real? My wings were folded tight, but not balled. The box wasn’t a danger to me now, but my body still tensed.

  I touched the corners, pausing at a fingerprint. My fingerprint. I don’t want to go back inside, my dream self had thought. In real life, I had once pushed against the edges, trying to prevent being shoved in. I touched my neck. Someone had injected me. The fear of it happening again. Of sleeping.

  No, a memory of a memory of that happening.

  It happened more than once?

  Many times.

  I tugged at the memories, but it was like grabbing at fragmented light.

  Breaker came next to me to study the box. He held open an old notebook. The edges had curled in a bit and the Heron writing had faded. The older scrolls in the Elik library had the same musty smell. His face took on that faraway look as the gears in his brain churned to work out a problem.

  I flipped the page of the notebook. The dialect was a shade different but still readable. Based on the type of detail in these notes, down to the precipitation level outside, this had been written before tech had advanced to use a computer or tablet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have wasted precious space on mundane notes. Astook, this notebook had to be two hundred cycles old.

  A roughhewn sketch of the box took up half the page. Inside the box lay a sleeping girl. Next to it . . . my name.

  I pointed to the girl. “Breaker. I think. I think that’s supposed to be me.” I grabbed the book from him and read on. “Breaker, these are patient notes. About me.” I flipped through the book more, fast forwarding through time. “They are watching the box. That’s all this book is, watching the box. Watching me.”

  I dashed to the stash of notebooks, shoving them aside until I found one that was newer. This time, I was out of the box and awake.

  “Malani,” Breaker said, still standing next to the drapery. “We know this box.”

  I twisted around. “I know. There’s drawings and—”

  “No. We know this box. Don’t you remember the cryo hole? All those boxes we had to move in order to fix it? This is a cryo box. From the Hope.”

  I dropped the book. “Why would the Herons put me in a box from the ship?”

  Excitement filled Breaker’s voice. He got that gleeful, twinkly look whenever he finished something from the To-Fix table. Normally, it was cute. Now, it looked dangerous. “They wouldn’t! Stars, this explains so much. Why their tech was always better and how they knew about the ship. Malani, you’re not from the villages. You’re from the ship! That’s why you were put in and out of sleep. You were being taken in and out of cryo. That’s why they thought the ship could help. It already had. That’s why these notebooks are so old. That’s why you can’t remember much. You’re old.”

  I sat right down on the floor. I had done this before, once. Sat down right here, waiting for the rocking of my world to pass. “Thanks a lot.”

  Breaker frowned, coming over. “But that also explains why they did so much experimentation on you. You weren’t a person to them. You were a relic.” He picked up the books, moving through them as time fast forwarded again. I saw myself, again and again and again as time moved through the pages, never growing older.

  He grabbed one of the newest books and shoved it to me. “How old were you when the Elik came?”

  “Eight.” But my nose wrinkled. “At least, I thought I was eight. At least, it was ten cycles ago.” How did I know I was truly eight when they came to get me? It was just a number locked into my mind. I was eight-cycles old. Ten cycles had passed. Now I was eighteen. But how did I know that?

  Breaker nodded. “Exactly.” He pointed to the dates. “Can you find the entries made around ten cycles ago? Maybe ten and a half cycles ago? Maybe a couple monsas before you were rescued?”

  I found a different notebook. The notes in here were much more sparse, more of a backup system than the only way to record. Most of the hardcore notes were probably on the dead computer. “What am I looking for?”

  “Any mention of royal Elik.”

  I flipped through the pages. I recognized this handwriting. It belonged to the doctor before Dr. Niele. “Here.”

  Elik egg arrived.

  Flipped through some more pages.

  After much deliberation, consensus was to continue predecessor’s train of thought and try—

  I gasped.

  A memory finally formed.

  “What?” Breaker said.

  A tube attached to me. I couldn’t see the doctor’s face, only felt the pinch in my arm. And the sight of blue trickling down the tube into my vein.

  I clutched the book. “They used the egg’s blood. They gave me the royal egg’s blood.”

  Breaker put his hand on my shoulder. “That’s why you can do what you do. You have royal blue blood in you.”

  “But I can’t control all metal like the royals.”

  “You’re not actually royal. You just have their blood. It’d make sense to me if only royal Elik blood was, I dunno, strong enough to pass on the ability. Look, if any Elik blood could pass on the ability, with all their experiments, surely the Herons would’ve figured that out cycles ago. They’ve captured enough to try out theories.”

  “No wonder I never felt like I fit in anywhere.”

  Knowing the truth about where I came from was both like a drink of cool water and taking a sip of acid. All my childhood questions now had answers. I truly didn’t belong here. However, the answers also showed Scarlatti was tied to me. It made me who I am. This planet meant something.

  Which was exactly what I didn’t want.

  “This is infuriating. All the chances the le
aders had to make things right and they banged up . . . Wait.” Breaker jabbed at the book. “How long after the blood transfusion did the Elik come to take you?”

  I didn’t need to look. The memory was coming back stronger. I could see ghosts of the assistants hurrying around me. A meal. A rest. King Oma’s visit. Another theory proposed. Another experiment. All swirling around the room at an impossible speed. “A dia.”

  “King Oma prolly didn’t have time to see what the royal blood did. They might not’ve known they had a royal egg. Not with the Elik on the war path to retrieve it.”

  I frowned. “But the Herons took two royals. An egg and the watcher . . .” A solalight snapped on inside my brain. Another question answered. I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Oooooh. Astook, I’ve been so stupid.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I waved off his question and flipped backward several pages, searching for an entry. “The TriRing Station. The way the ground rippled, the way the glass shattered—from the inside out. No other place was affected. Sheesh. We are so stupid. She was asking me about it. Right there in the Bazaar. That entire ‘I don’t like needles’ bit.”

  Breaker looked like I had started speaking a Solteran dialect. “I don’t—”

  I smacked his shoulder. “You even told me. Chief Malvyn was overprotective of her. Adopted.”

  “Tahnya?”

  I held out the book and pointed to the passage. The notation of an agreement. “Tahnya’s Elik, you dummy. She’s the missing royal. But the Herons didn’t start the war. At least, not this recent flare-up. They kept insisting they were innocent, so unless they were lying, and I doubt it ‘cause they had no reason to, they didn’t break in and steal the egg. Chief Malvyn did. He gave the egg to the Herons and kept Tahnya for himself.”

  Breaker sagged against the computer stand. “Tahnya’s Elik?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure she didn’t know until recently. Probably when Brody stabbed her.”

  “But why would Malvyn give them the egg?”

  “Why haven’t the Herons actually invaded the compound this entire time? It could easily have been a type of peace offering. He might’ve not known it was royal, either. But think about it. Say he broke in to steal an egg and a little girl, Tahnya, fought back. He would’ve seen what she could do. So he took her too. And if he raised her as Human, he’d have a game piece that could have changed all of Scarlatti. The whole red blood for a red planet? That could’ve happened. No wonder he wanted all that dark matter. She could’ve changed the war. She would’ve won him the planet.”

  “And then we happened.”

  My wings raised. “No, I was a happy bonus. You happened.”

  His face paled. “I flew away.” He turned a sickly greenish color. “And left Tahnya with Leader.”

  “No, Breaker, you’re not supposed to feel guilty.” I reached for him.

  He took a step back. “You don’t understand.”

  “I was trying to say you should be proud for stopping a tyrant from taking over a planet!”

  He thumped his chest. “And in the process, opened up Scarlatti to something even worse. This just, just changes things, you know? I did all of this.” He pointed, not to the entirety of the room, but the entirety of the planet.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “But I do. It’s my fault.” He yanked on the hair at the back of his neck. “Maybe I’m related in more ways to Malvyn than I even know.”

  “There’s a world of difference between you and Chief Malvyn. That’s why I’m with you! If you can’t see it, I don’t know what else to say except now is not the time for an existential crisis. Really. Between the two of us, I should be freaking out. I just found out I’m fourteen times your age! I’m practically a living mummy!”

  He paced back and forth, each step harder than the rest. His chest heaved as though he ran twenty klicks. “How can you be sure? We don’t know why he stole the egg. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing. I stole Brody and the ship because I thought I was doing right. And look at the damage that caused. Look at the damage Malvyn caused. All of this, bloody all of this could’ve been prevented if both of us didn’t do what we thought was right. How do you bloody know?”

  I threw the book at him. It clanged off his prosthesis. “STOP IT. Astook, stop it.” I grabbed his shoulder and shook him until his shocked face gained some clarity. “I don’t bloody know. I don’t. But I do know this—you can either walk in fear or walk in love. That makes all the difference. I guarantee you, whatever Malvyn did, it wasn’t to benefit Tahnya. What you did, however wrong or broken, it was out of love. Maybe imperfect love, but it was there. If that doesn’t count, I don’t know what else does.”

  I let go of him and he stumbled. He grabbed the old lab table to steady himself. He hunched, in a position closer to animal than person. Maybe that’s who we all were on the inside, a bunch of stumbling animals trying to find a way in the universe, searching for the light to guide us out of the darkness.

  He straightened, his breathing calming. “I need to think.” He paused, bit his lip, held up his cap. It was rippling.

  Then my wings started to ball. I flew past him and tilted an ear. Scribble scrabbles of grinding claws echoed down the hallway, coming from the direction of the core. The Extrats had found another way in. “You’ll have to do it on the bike. Time to leave this gods-forsaken place.”

  Chapter 35

  JUPE

  My lungs were cages of fire. My ears popped and the pressure threatened to squeeze my brain through my sinuses. I grabbed Scorpia’s hand. Her fingers vised, unwilling to let go. I climbed up her hand, looped my arm around her chest. Heaved one last time—

  Her foot released.

  We foundered, but my body was on auto and I kicked kicked kicked—

  Darkness bloomed across my vision just as we broke surface.

  I gasped, sucking in chilled, beaut air. Gasped again, choking and sputtering against the salt taste coating my tongue. I turned toward Scorpia, making sure she breathed. She floated on the water’s surface like a deflated balloon. Her breath came out in misty puffs. Bien.

  I glanced over Scorpia’s head where Raelyn’s ship had been. No ripples remained. I was too tired to groan. Never mind that we almost died, she’d kill us if she knew we didn’t save it. Another glance up. No figures dotted the cliff top. The soldiers were gone.

  We swam for the ice shelf with weak limbs. I shoved Scorpia onto the ice. Her legs flapped against the water until her foot caught ground. I tried four times to lift myself before I succeeded. Our bodies knocked against each other as we curled together to fight off the cold.

  We had to get warm, but without supplies, there was only one way to do it.

  I tucked my hands into my armpits. “How you d-doing?” My own body felt like death. I’d rather take the aching legs than this frozen-numb feeling.

  “Alive,” Scorpia croaked. She seemed more lucid. “Once I realized the Queen knew, Raelyn helped me shut down my line to keep her from tracking me. We were able to keep my nanites working though. I did not remember my unitard was connected to my line until it was too late.”

  That explained how she wasn’t already dead from cold, even if her uniform didn’t help her. I’d sell off the last cup of Bai Hao if it meant getting my own nanites right now.

  She sighed. “This is her way of telling me I am no longer eligible for the throne.” She spat. “I still cannot believe those bastard guards listened to her and shot me down.”

  “You’d think she could simply drop this news on you over dinner.” My legs jogged now, torn between exhaustion and the need to keep warm. “So what are you g-gonna do now that even the palace is against you? Do the C-councilors know about your betrayal?”

  She tossed her head, flinging
water at my face. “I did not do the betraying first. She will spin the news, but I have a plan.” Her tone told me she wasn’t quite ready to share. Then she hesitated. “You’re cold.” Her unitard split into two and she peeled off the top half. Underneath, she wore a tank. Her flesh rippled as the wind hit it. “Take this.”

  “C-Can’t take your jacket.”

  “I have nanites counteracting my hypothermia. You don’t. And I am used to this environment.” She threw it at me. “Just take it. It has insulation.”

  I threaded my arms through the sleeves. It draped over my hips and the sleeves were so long I tucked my hands inside. Immediately, the cold was marginally better.

  “You know, ese, best way to keep alive is to generate some warmth.” I glanced above at the palace’s ice cliff, at where my pulse hand holds began, and where I’d have to create new ones in order to climb all the way around to the main hangar. “Angel. That’s gonna be a climb. Let’s move, Princess.”

  Chapter 36

  LUKA

  The tablet in my hands lit with activity. My heart rate quickened. I stood on the ledge, head and chest above everyone. “The next wave is inside the underground, parallel with the southern boundary fence.”

  Dirt drifted from above as the Extrats already inside the compound tried to find a way into the core. They’d find it eventually. The underground was barely a can propped up with sticks.

  At least the sonnabitches had the decency to launch their attack closer to twilight, when the mist finally rolled in from the north and covered the compound. With still no word from Breaker and Malani, the wait gave me time to flesh out and put my plan into action. Before we left Scarlatti, Malvyn had mentioned using sensors to signal the approach of the Herons. We used the tablets and found ‘em, dug ‘em up, and replanted ‘em in the underground.