Eva looked up through the broken glass dome at the squadron of warships still looming over the city. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, that part is good.”
“Good? How can that be good?” Gen squeaked.
“Well, they haven’t been discovered and they haven’t left yet.”
“But what are we going to do? The robots are going to get us!” Gen was spiraling into hysterics.
“Gen.” Eva kept her tone calm even though their situation was bleak. She pulled her poncho back over her head and strapped on the charger for the boomrod. “All we have to do is get out of here and regroup with them.”
“That’s all we need to do? How are we going to do that? You can’t just walk out of the city. It’s impossible.”
“I’ve escaped from here before. I can do it again.” Eva Eight’s orchid creature crawled out from the bushes and hopped onto the trunk of the willow. The lichens on the trunk rippled as the creature stepped over them.
“I think I know a way,” said Eva.
“You do?”
“Yes. But you need to remove all that jewelry or they’ll hear us for sure.”
With jittery hands Gen yanked off the jangly bracelets that adorned her forearms.
“And while you’re at it,” Eva said, “lose the robotail.”
CHAPTER 21: SHOCK
The girls stood in the dark entrance to the aviary. The Attican park was eerily quiet save for the breaking of glass and cries for help somewhere off in the distance. Though the momentary calm should have eased Eva’s nerves, it somehow made her edgy. “Do you know where the eastern gate to the city is?”
“The old gate where reboots—er . . . imagoes used to enter? It’s that way.” Gen pointed to the far side of the park at a cluster of units, now ablaze.
“That’s where we have to go.” Eva charged her weapon. “Stay close.”
They exited the aviary and splashed across the muddy turf to a cluster of pines.
“Let’s catch our breath for a minute,” Eva said, panting. “We’ve got to run as fast as we can from cover to cover. Got it?”
Gen nodded.
The whine of hover engines droned high above them. Eva looked up through the boughs of the pines to see lights from a pair of warbots as they dropped from the belly of an overhead warship. Their long legs unfolded in preparation for landing.
“They’re gonna land right on us,” Gen shouted.
Eva ran out into the open field. Aiming the muzzle of the boomrod at the lowest descending warbot, she fired. The sonic wave blasted the robot off course, and it collided into its companion. Now out of control, both warbots plummeted down to the ground as a mass of tangled legs.
“Get out of there,” Eva yelled to Gen, and gestured for her to run.
Gen bolted from the cover of the pine trees toward Eva just as the warbots crashed through the canopy. The ground shook on impact, causing one of the trees to topple over.
“That shot was so jolt,” Gen said, catching her breath.
“Let’s hurry. I might not be so lucky next time.”
They dashed from tree to tree toward a thick cluster of bushes that lined the edge of the park.
“Let’s stop for a nano,” Eva whispered and crawled into the cover of the foliage with Gen close behind.
Eva peered through the bushes to the street that circled the entire park. What she saw took her aback. Illuminated only from the dancing flames of a burning storefront lay a heap of motionless human bodies. Most were facedown in the street. Some were half-buried under rubble. Eva tore her gaze away from the grisly sight, but her eyes locked on to those of a girl.
The girl was not much older than Eva. She was lying on her back with her hand next to her face. Her mouth was slightly open, and a large smoking SHOCdart was imbedded in her neck. She stared, unblinking while white ash fell upon her, like the holograms Eva had seen of a snowfall. Eva kept waiting for the girl to blink, but all she saw in the girl’s fixed eyes was her own reflection.
“Is it safe for us to go?” Gen asked from behind.
“No.” Eva whispered back. “We need to find another way. And it’s not here.” They crept through the bushes around the perimeter of the park until they found a route that was clear of bodies.
“The eastern gate is . . . just . . . down this alley.” Gen stopped and bent over, racked with a coughing fit.
“Take a nano.” Eva sat Gen down next to the shell of a scorched gondola. She wiped the ash from Gen’s face. “You good?”
“I’m good,” Gen replied, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “It’s all this smoke.”
The girls peered through the gondola’s canopy toward the gate. “The door is so big. How are we going to open it?” Gen asked.
“We’re not.” Eva ran toward a pair of large drainage ducts that flanked the gate. The ducts jutted from the outermost wall of the city, then elbowed downward into the ground. “There’s a hidden door behind these ducts,” said Eva. “Let’s go.”
Squeezing behind the pair of ducts, Eva located the top of a small metal hatch buried behind a heap of rubble.
“Help me clear this.” Eva started clawing the debris away from the door. Gen carefully picked up pieces of debris and tossed them aside.
“You’ve got to move more quickly than that if you want to get out of here and not get fried,” said Eva.
“But these rocks are so heavy.”
“We have to hurry.” Eva grunted as she rolled a large hunk from the pile. “Ouch!” She pulled her finger out from under the hunk and put it into her mouth.
“You okay?”
Eva examined her bloody finger. “Let’s just clear this as fast as we can.”
Together they scooped out handfuls of debris and rock. After a while the hatch was cleared.
Eva gripped the corroded lever to turn it. It didn’t budge. She unclipped the strap that held the charger for the boomrod and handed the charger to Gen. “You need to hold this and this,” Eva said, giving Gen the boomrod and charger.
“I—I can’t use this . . . thing.” Gen held the weapon at arm’s length.
Eva struggled with the lever. “You . . . uff . . . are gonna have to if we get spotted.”
“But—”
“Sheesa! Just do it!” Eva shouted over her shoulder. The lever loosened slightly, but the hatch door remained wedged shut. “I’ll be amazed if you can survive one day past these walls.”
Gen started to snivel. She slung the charger strap over her shoulder. “Some of us had nice homes, remember?”
“Not anymore.” Eva caught her breath and examined the raw spots on her palms from trying the lever. She massaged her hands with fingers. “I’m sorry, Gen. We have to get out of here. This entire place is going to go up in flames.”
Gen sobbed. “This is the only home I’ve ever known. Now my friends are gone, my clothes, my family . . . my father.”
Eva turned to Gen and said, “He wanted you to survive.”
“I just want to die! Leave me here. Just go!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Gen—”
“Please remain stationary,” a firm voice spoke. In the alley on the other side of the ducts stood a warbot. “Do not try to escape.”
Eva reached down and turned the knob on the charger. The boomrod began to hum. “Aim the muzzle and squeeze the lever in the middle,” she whispered to Gen.
Gen trembled, “I—I can’t—”
“You have to.”
“One of you is not identifiable. Step out so that you may be properly identified.” The warbot moved toward the girls.
“Fire,” Eva said.
“I can’t!” Gen fell to her knees.
“Voice recognition is affirmative. Eva Nine of Sanctuary five-seven-three, your location has been confirmed.” The warbot closed in. “Notifying the Prime Master. Prepare for immobilization.” The flaps on its ammo canisters opened, revealing a cluster of SHOCdarts.
“Fire, you short-out! FIRE!” Eva screamed.
Gen squeezed the trigger and was thrown backward into the wall by the boomrod’s kickback. Her shot clipped the top of the warbot’s head. It staggered backward several steps and stumbled over the remains of a smoldering building.
“Sorry,” Eva said. “I forgot to mention the kick when you shoot.”
“Thanks. And, for the record, I am not a short-out!” Gen shouted.
In the alley beyond, another warbot appeared.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Eva yanked on the lever to the hatch. “Get up and keep firing at them!” She climbed up onto the duct and pushed on the lever with her entire body weight.
As Gen scrambled to her feet, she fired again. This time she remained standing, but missed and hit the building. Flaming rubble cascaded down onto the warbot, but still it continued toward them.
“It’s not stopping. It’s not stopping!” Gen screamed.
Eva grunted as she strained against the lever with everything she had. SHOCdarts peppered the ducts and ricocheted off the wall next to her.
Gen yelled as she fired once more. The shot connected with the warbot, and it went down, but the first one was now stepping over it. Another volley of darts flew at the girls.
Gen cowered behind the duct. Eva screamed in pain as a SHOCdart pierced her arm. Another dart entered her thigh. “Fire before it fries me!” Eva shouted. She pushed through the agony and continued struggling with the door. At last the lever screeched as it turned and the door creaked open.
Gen fired the boomrod again. The sonic blast hit the housing units next to the warbot, and the entire building collapsed onto it. On hands and knees Eva crawled into the hidden passage, with Gen close behind her.
“Shut the door,” said Eva, panting. “And turn the latch until it locks.”
Gen did as she was told.
Eva winced as she pulled the pencil-length dart from her upper arm. “We are safe now.” She yanked the other from her thigh. “Take off your skirt.”
“My skirt?” Gen unfastened her frilly underskirt.
“Yes. I need it to wrap my wounds.” Eva swallowed down the throbbing ache where the SHOCdarts had punctured her. “Use this to rip it into strips.” She handed Gen a bloody dart.
Using the sharp pointed SHOCdart, Gen ripped a hole in the skirt. She grabbed the hem and tore off a long strip of fabric. She wrapped the strip tightly around Eva’s arm and tied it.
“I’ve never seen blood—real blood—before today,” said Gen.
Eva snorted in response. She reached up and wiped her hand on Gen’s forehead. Eva showed her scarlet fingertips. “That’s your blood. You must have gotten nicked by a dart.”
Gen put a trembling finger to her blemish. She rubbed the red droplets between her fingertips. “I’m bleeding. Will I have a scar?”
Eva shrugged.
“Do you think Hailey will think it’s rocket?”
Eva rolled her eyes and ignored the comment. Using the remainder of the skirt, she bound the wound in her thigh and staggered to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
She led Gen through the dark passage past pipes and grates. Unlike the first time, when she had been here with her sister, the steam and humidity had been replaced with a dank chill. The girls made their way to the end of the passage.
“Where are we?” Gen asked in the gloom.
“If my guess is right, we are somewhere near the gate that leads in and out of the city,” replied Eva. She felt the distinct seam of a hatch set in the wall in front of them. “Do you have a light?”
Gen activated the central eye of the Omnipod embedded in the palm of her hand. Eva smiled when she read the sign on the closed access hatch.
EASTERN SUBFERRY STATION
MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL ONLY
CHAPTER 22: REGENERATION
Eva trudged up the steep incline of the subferry tracks. She remained silent as the full impact of the events she’d just witnessed began to sink in. For a while the only sounds were the girls’ footsteps and Gen’s sniffling.
“My clothes are soaked from the rain,” Gen finally said aloud, walking a few steps behind Eva. “They smell different . . . like dirt.”
“The rain smells of the earth,” Eva replied. “I love that smell.”
“Is everything dirty outside?” asked Gen. “Like the Toilers?”
“Yeah,” answered Eva. “But you get used to it.”
“Will my quotacard work out here?” Gen asked.
Eva shook her head. How could she explain the real world to Gen?
“What will I do?” asked Gen. There was panic in her voice.
Eva placed Gen’s hand in hers. “Your life is not over. It is just now beginning.”
Gen said nothing further. Eva continued leading the way up the tunnel. The girls didn’t speak again for the rest of the hike. Finally they arrived at the subferry docks at the peak of the tunnel.
“Shine your light over here.” Eva skirted between the park subferries. “The exit is just past this docking station.”
The girls crossed the abandoned station platform and came to the entrance. A pale glow of moonlight shone in from the outside.
Eva gasped. “The outer gates. They’ve been destroyed.” She clambered over the rubble and peered through the opening of the wrecked city gates. The barren wasteland that surrounded New Attica was still. A full moon looked down between the Rings of Orbona. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone here. Can you call Hailey and tell him to pick us up?”
Gen wiped away her mascara and ran her hands through her hair before contacting Hailey.
“Hey, you made it!” Hailey’s holographic head floated in Gen’s palm.
Eva smiled. “Yeah, we are at the outer eastern gate where you brought—”
Gen interrupted. “You have to save me! Everything is gone.”
“How many of you are there? Three?”
“Two,” Eva said in a low voice.
“What about Cadmus?” Hailey asked. “I thought—”
“Just two of us,” said Eva.
“Stay put. I found an emergency shuttle on the warship. I’ll be there in a nano,” replied Hailey. “Oh, and, Eva? I found a little surprise too, just for you.” Hailey cracked a grin right before he signed off.
The hovering shuttle came to a stop just outside the city’s outer gates. Through the bulbous canopy Eva could see Hailey waving. With a hiss the side door opened and unfolded to the ground, becoming an entry ramp. Eva and Gen scrambled from their hiding place into the cramped cabin. Hunched over in the backseat was a familiar smiling face.
“Huxley! You’re alive!” Eva jumped into his lap and hugged the gawky alien.
“Eva Nine, my little bayrie.” Huxley patted her head. “You thought I was dead? I told you ol’ Huxie’s gotten out of worse scrapes.”
“Let’s get going,” said Hailey. “The skies are clear of warships for now, but I don’t know for how long.”
Cautiously, Gen took the seat across from Huxley and scooted as far away as possible.
“Your arm?” Eva saw a bound stump where one of Huxley’s arms should have been.
“Lost that and a leg in the explosion,” Huxley grimaced. “They both will take forever to grow back.”
“Grow back? Will they really?” Eva peered at his wounds.
“I’m a Mirthian, aren’t I?” Huxley responded in his usual cheery tone.
“Strap in,” Hailey announced from the cockpit. “This little thing has some kick.” He pushed the throttle forward, and the shuttle shot off. With ease he navigated the speeding craft down into the depths of the canyon ravines. “I’m gonna take a longer route just to make sure we aren’t spotted. I don’t want to reveal the location of our camp.”
“Smart move, hero,” Huxley said. “So who’s this little one?” He looked over at Gen. “A friend of yours?”
“Yes,” Eva said with some hesitancy. “Huxley, this is Gen. Gen, this is Huxley. Hux and I met in . . . Attican Hall,” she said to Ge
n.
“You mean we met in the lockup of Attican Hall,” Huxley added with a bitter laugh. “What a pair of pretty bayries you two make! One of you is dressed mysteriously, as dark as the night. And the other . . .” He looked at Eva’s hair. “You’re now as white as a star, Eva Nine. You’ve changed color like an arboreal loriped. Is that normal for your kind?”
“No.” Eva glanced at Gen and tucked her hair back behind her ears. “Not usually.”
“Well, it suits you,” Huxley replied with a smile. He addressed Gen, “Sorry to hear about your grand city. At least you made it out in one piece—not like me.”
Gen stared blankly at Huxley.
“Oh, she doesn’t understand you, Huxley. She doesn’t have a vocal transcoder,” Eva said.
“I think Vanpa has a few back at camp,” said Hailey.
Eva translated Huxley’s words. Gen crossed her arms and retracted farther in her seat. Her body seemed to become smaller, yet her eyes became wider.
Huxley looked at Eva. “This one’s not a talker, eh? Not like you and I?”
“She’s had a rough day. She lost her father,” Eva whispered back. She decided it best to keep Gen’s family a secret for the time being. “She’s never been outside the city, nor seen anyone from another planet.”
“Wow. That is a lot for one little bayrie to handle. I’d need a bottle of ol’ usquebaugh to work through all that,” Huxley said with a wink.
“I’m so glad to see you here. How did Hailey find you?” Eva squeezed Huxley’s large hand.
“I found him locked up on the warship,” Hailey said.
“Wait. What?” Eva gave a puzzled look. “How’d you get on there?”
“Well, right after I took off on that Dorcean glider, I zipped right between those tracker missiles, remember? Of course I lead ’em right smack into that mother ship, and WHAM! The whole thing blows!” Huxley’s voice rose with excitement, causing Gen to jump in her seat. “But wouldn’t you know, the glider and me get caught in the explosion. I’m tumbling head over heels, and before I know it, the other ship harpoons the glider right out of the sky—and me with it.”
The Battle for WondLa Page 13
