WHEN HEROES FALL

by Abby J. Reed

  The work gave me another chance to sneak away to the generator, another chance for the pain to push back. Even with the herbs, if I paid attention, I could still feel it gnawing at the back of my head, an ever-present press against the sides of my skull. But there wasn’t time to indulge the weakness.

  The core wasn’t as packed as usual. Only those quickest on their feet pressed wan faces against loved ones, their backs loaded with what meager supplies they carried, along with their knives and spears. Their chaotic fear was replaced by determination. A lick of pride flicked through me. Finally, they looked like a people willing to defend their home from any threat.

  The air thickened with anticipation. If this plan went sour, I’d have trapped all the survivors on a gilded platter for the Extrats. Good thing I was decent with plans.

  A second sensor now lit. The third wave of Extrats had found their way into the underground. I turned to Cal, who stood on Malvyn’s old chair. “Call it. Call it now.”

  We had given our timed explosives to Breaker, so all we had was good old-fashioned foot work and a planted fuse. Cal signaled to the volunteer. “Go!”

  A fuse was lit, a spark. Another groundquake as the southern tunnels fell, sealing us off from the south side and the Extrats.

  My tablet flashed with activity again. “Northern side compromised!” A long moment. “Call it, Chief,” I said.

  Cal signaled. When the northern tunnels collapsed, the underground shook even harder. We’d placed the explosives underneath one of the factories. With all the equipment inside, it’d make a great blockade.

  “You truly believe this is going to work, boy?” Malvyn sat against the wall, wheezing from the extra dust in the air. His hands tied to his feet forced him to crouch. Not the best security in the world, but options were slim. “Burying yourself and waiting for rescue?” You could practically taste the derision in his voice. “You are nothing but a coward.”

  My jaw tightened. Both me and Cal refused to let him rot in the prison cell. For different reasons. Fair trial, my ass. I wanted Malvyn out to make sure he wouldn’t die an easy death. I had too much planned.

  Two coughing figures appeared at the entrance. The volunteers who ran north. I recognized one as a teen I’d trained in basic before I’d left. She wouldn’t have passed. But now, with the claw marks seeping through her shoulder—maybe I had been too harsh after all.

  I waved them inside. “Any others with you?”

  The volunteer’s hand drifted to her shoulder. “No.”

  I nodded. They all knew the risk of planting the fuses.

  A twinkling light caught my eye. My body tensed before I placed it. The sensors on the compound square were lit. The twinkling continued as Extrat after Extrat passed over it. Cal shifted uneasily on the chair. “That’s a lot of Extrats . . .”

  “Wait for it . . .” I said, loud enough for him and those around us to hear.

  Behind me, Malvyn laughed to himself. “We are creating our own grave on an unknown planet. We will die nameless—”

  “Oh, shut up.” I snapped. An image of stabbing his khaim-ass face replayed in my vision over and over.

  The survivors pressed against each other, waiting, waiting, the tension growing, growing—

  The Extrats’ fifth wave were inside the center. “Now, Cal.”

  “Light the fuse!” Cal shouted.

  Light sparked, flooded the far tunnel. Another explosion. This time, my ears rang. The entire tunnel system west collapsed. Dust spit into the core, scratching our lungs. That one was too close. Deranged screams echoed from outside the core. Footsteps, metal against metal thundered toward us.

  Cal waved in front of his face. “Let’s go.”

  I handed Malvyn’s rope to another and jogged ahead of Cal. Every step was a one-two punch to the head.

  As soon as Malani told me what happened on the ship, I had sent out scouts to find if there were any other forgotten tunnels that stretched beyond the compound’s boundary. There was only one, heading east—and we stood in it now.

  Up ahead, Mateo stepped out of the shadows, Yana and LuLu next to him. They had gone ahead with the wounded and the children and the defenseless to watch their backs. I didn’t want to risk drawing the Extrats’ attention by moving all of us too soon, Cal didn’t want to leave the weak behind, so we had split the group into two.

  When we had caught up with the rest of the survivors, and the sensors on my tablet said the core itself was flooded with Extrats, Cal gave the last signal. Behind us, the last fuse was lit and the eastern tunnel exploded, sealing us off from the compound and sealing the Extrats inside. The sound filled my chest like a lullaby. With those bombs, we prolly trapped at least half the Extrats hunting us. At the very least, those lucky enough not to have fallen to our bombs might pick through the wreckage, looking for our bodies. I doubted they would stop to rescue their own. Hopefully, that’d buy us and Breaker and Malani some time.

  Cal stooped and grabbed the stretcher closest to him. A Heron stooped to grab the other end. The victim was a young man with gouges across his torso. His face was gone. The rough tube in his throat was held in place by string. The faceless that could stand groped their remaining loved ones, or strangers, anybody who could guide them.

  We led the survivors east for klicks. Above ground, the trek was a hike. Underground, the trek was worse. I pushed out every thought, every throb throb throb, focusing only on the next step. Eventually, when my brain was about to bleed, the tunnel tilted toward the surface.

  Almost there.

  The ladder jutted down from the unused hatch like a lifeline. I waved everyone back to check the surface. The hatch was old and took several mini rounds to get it to behave. I heaved it open with a shoulder to find a pair of metal heels.

  I threw myself out of the tunnel, leaping upon the Extrat’s legs, the hatch slamming shut behind me. The Extrat went down, twisting onto its side, claws outstretched. I pushed myself onto my knees, ducking under the swipe, a mini driving into its chest. Black blood pooled.

  Then a second Extrat drove its claws into my ribs.

  I gasped, my vision again flickering—no, not flickering, sucking—my eyes—

  Anger flared. My elbow drove into the Extrat. It retracted its claw just enough for me to reach over and grab my other mini. A jab with the hilt, the claws released me, another swing, another, another, driving enough space for me to get up. I grabbed the mini from the fallen Extrat and slammed both into the second.

  Dead.

  Pain roared, pissing me off enough to hack free its head.

  A quick check showed no more Extrats lingered nearby. I stuck the minis in the ground. The air filled with my heavy breathing. I winced as I lifted my tunic, finding ten puncture wounds, five on my front, five on my back. Piece of bloody hell. At least my holster got in the way. Would’ve been way deeper otherwise.

  Luck. That’s what this was. Pure luck. Stupid migraine put me at ease too early. Never thought I’d say that.

  My head tilted back as I breathed through the pain. So much banging pain. Eventually I ripped off part of my tunic, tying it tight around my torso.

  I paused at the hatch.

  Throb, throb, throb.

  For a sec, the need to keep walking hit. Keep walking. Leave them. Walk into the trees and sit and wait until the throbbing and the Queen was all over.

  And if I did that, what would happen to Yana and Lulu and Mateo?

  I left Yana. I left Brody.

  You do not let down your team.

  Keep going. It was the only option.

  I fumbled for the hatch, opening the top. Cal looked up at me with anxious eyes. “All clear,” I said.

  His tension eased, though I didn’t miss the sharp look he gave the dead Extrats. I helped him out with a hand. One b
y one, we lifted the survivors from the tunnel, hushing them with a finger over our lips and guiding them into the forest cover. One by one, we carried the wounded, guided the faceless, calmed the children until what was left of Scarlatti hid in the trees.

  A little girl tugged on my tunic. Her feet bled and red smeared her calves.

  She looked exactly like every other compound kid. Like Brody. And what LuLu would eventually look like. I placed where I’d last seen the girl: Questioning Malani about spaceangels. She’d tied ribbons in her hair, which were long gone now.

  “Where’re your parents?” I said.

  The girl’s gaze drifted to the Extrats.

  Dead, then.

  “Come on.” I hoisted her onto my back, readjusting her little thighs so they didn’t squeeze my punctures. I grit my teeth against the pain, picked up a bag of Cal’s supplies and gestured to the rest of the group. “This way.”

  Chapter 37

  JUPE

  We climbed around the iceberg until we reached the main hangar. By the time we pulled ourselves inside, my limbs were as useless as a twice-recycled gov-bar. I plopped onto the hangar with all the grace of a landed jellyfish. At least my toes weren’t completely numb. I was still damp, but here in the hangar, out of direct wind, the cold didn’t bite so much. “I think that crinkling sound is an icicle. Do I have icicles dangling off me?”

  Scorpia laid on her back next to me, staring at the sky. She got up first. “Come on.” She nudged my leg with her shoe. “We are not finished yet.”

  “If I had enough strength, I’d throw one of my pulsars at you.”

  “You do realize I’m your Princess, right?”

  “A Princess only cause I kept you from drowning.” I groaned and sat up, peeling away the remaining fleshPatches that managed to stick. “How do you know the soldiers aren’t already heading for us?”

  “You do not know how my mother works. The palace is empty. Any remaining soldiers will be here on Atina, trying to maintain peace. The citizens will not take kindly to what they saw in the skies.”

  “And the Councilors?”

  “Even if they were here, what can they do? Besides, I still have some allies. And I have a plan to convince the rest.”

  The hangar was empty save the cable cars, a repair section, and my bedraggled Leech. It was the only ship left. The Queen probably only moved it here in case she needed it as further evidence against my uncle.

  “She said she knew where their planet’s located,” I said. “Is that where she’s taking Tahnya and Brody? Back to Scarlatti?”

  Scorpia nodded, walking over to the Leech. “We will use your ship. I cannot risk using my line.”

  I stumbled after her.

  The Leech would’ve been prettier if she’d been dragged through a meat grinder. The Queen didn’t remove the grappling hooks, simply cut them loose. An inspection showed they didn’t embed too far into the walls to cause a true breech. The lower hatch had been cut open to haul us out, but the surgery was clean and crisp. Tahnya’s song shield must’ve kept it from worse damage. A simple patch job would hold that over and there were plenty of supplies here in the hangar.

  I pumped the heat and ran a quick diagnostic scan inside—a bit beat up, but, Angel bless my luck, the ship still functioned. Scorpia punched in the coordinates for her data ports and sent a few messages while I changed into something warmer. Since I had nothing big enough to fit her, I returned the jacket and stripped the bed to give her sheets as a blanket. Most everything had been tied and locked down, but some of the knick-knacks inside the cabinets hadn’t held. One cabinet door had popped open. Dried blue blood smeared the edges of the door.

  My core clenched. Tahnya. I remembered what Breaker and Malani said about their planet. Blue bloods. They had blue bloods. And Tahnya was one of them.

  I rested my hand against the cabinet, the vision of her lying here filling my head. Swallowed hard. She was still alive. For now. The Queen wouldn’t have taken her otherwise. I shut the cabinet door.

  I filled the teapot with old water from Syktyv and warmed it, pouring the liquid over what little Bai Hao I had left. Let it steep while we waited for the data port to report their results. It wasn’t the best cup of tea in the world, but the scent warmed me just as much as the liquid itself.

  “Here.” I handed an old chipped mug to Scorpia and sat on the interface edge. The mug had Levi’s old pro klack number printed in glitter. “There’s usually a formal ceremony and special cups. At least back on Miaoli, we did the whole ritual.”

  Scorpia sniffed the tea and sipped. Her legs were crisscrossed underneath the interface. It made her look oddly young. “I have never tasted the famed Bai Hao before.”

  I couldn’t help but glow with some pride. “Really? It’s a Solteran drink.”

  “Just because I am Solteran does not mean I have been able to sample everything from every wedge.” She took another sip. “It deserves the attention.”

  The data port results returned. No message from Breaker.

  My legs itched to move again. I leaned back and let them jog. “What now?”

  Scorpia tucked the sheets tighter around her. “We wait.”

  “And then what?” I ticked off on my fingers. “Me, you, Raelyn, and Levi. That’s four. Not a whole lot against all those ships and an angry Momma Queen.”

  Scorpia sniffed the sheets and wrinkled her nose. I wasn’t about to tell her ShuShu lay there since I didn’t have anything else. “We can have more than a four-person team.”

  I gave her a sharp look over the rim of my cup. “Your Councilors?”

  She picked at the fabric. “Potentially. It will take a long time to mobilize them and my mother is on her way right now to the dark matter.”

  “She won’t use the portals though,” I said. “Not after a stunt like that above Atina. She’ll be bombarded with people wanting to know what’s going on. She’ll go dark and flank the long way around.”

  “True. And if we use the portals . . .” Scorpia bit her lip, the first sign of hesitation I’d ever seen from her. “There’s another way to mobilize help, Hero of Salvade.”

  A bitter taste filled my mouth. I knew exactly what she meant. I took a long sip of tea. “I used that emergency flank.”

  She looked me straight in the eye. “Are you sure you burned all your resources?”

  My thoughts stilled.

  The Queen meant for me to burn whatever integrity and trust the people had in their Hero of Salvade with that broadcast. I was sure it was replaying everywhere in the galaxy at the moment. But I had worded my phrases so carefully. Somebody who had close enough ties to ShuShu could still use his reputation. Somebody who had the reputation, however underserving, of his own. Somebody who could vouch for Scorpia.

  Somebody meaning me.

  I clenched my cup harder. The wisps of steam curled like the last cup of tea ShuShu had that evening we fought while overlooking Avonley. If saving Tahnya meant uniting the factions, I’d do it. I’d do anything.

  I cleared my throat, spoke louder. “I’ll help. We can have everyone get ready and then when Breaker replies, we’ll have all the factions to send. At least, those who can afford the portals. We’ll keep the Queen away from the dark matter.”

  The only hint of relief I got was from the relaxing of Scorpia’s eyes. She nodded. “Good.”

  She leaned over me to set up a wide beam, but I grabbed her wrist. Her gaze locked onto mine. “I can’t promise they’ll listen to you,” I said.

  She bowed her head. “I am not asking for your support for the throne. I am not a good person. I know I have done horrible things. I will try, however, to make a better Queen. Though, I won’t lie, having the factions united behind me will go a long way in the Councilors’ eyes.”

  She met my gaze again
. A deeper ice, colder than the waters we’d just escaped from, burned there. “There is so much history, so many policies and politics and behind-the-scene movements you do not understand and have not been privy to. But I need you and what you represent. I have seen my mother rip up mines, burn an entire habited planet in order to get a scrap of the dark matter. Right now, by making this broadcast, the only thing I am asking you for is to help me save some of my people by helping me prevent my mother from doing it again. Help me keep this power from her hands.”

  Her words kindled belief in my own skeptic chest. One of the bravest acts you could do was look in the mirror and not turn away from the truth. Self-introspection required bravery. “I can see why my uncle liked you.” I let go of her wrist. “Just so you know, I’m terrible at speeches.”

  A screen popped up. Scorpia angled it so that even my skinny ass looked larger-than-life. “Good thing we can do a couple takes.”

  I set aside my cup, then changed my mind and brought it back, curling my hands around it as a barrier.

  “Ready?” she said.

  “Sí.”

  A green light flashed go.

  I looked at the screen, imagining ShuShu and Tahnya watching me. “Hola. My name is Jupiter Cho. You know me as the Hero of Salvade. You might have seen the most recent broadcast showing that I’m alive.” My mouth dried for a sec and I wet my lips. “The broadcast did not share the entire story. Sí, ShuShu is dead. You know him as one of the leaders of the factions, a bi-blood. You know me as the young man who risked his life to save the innocents on Salvade.”

  My voice grew hoarse and shame welled. “But you’re wrong. That’s not what happened. My uncle, ShuShu, risked his life to save Salvade. He flew in under fire and tried to help organize the evacuation. Any survivors are because of him. He’s the true Hero of Salvade. Me? I was only there because I was too afraid to let my uncle die. I didn’t want to be alone. I was a coward.” Naming the vice lessened its weight. So I said it again. “I’m still a coward. But I’m trying to be someone better.”