by Matt Blake
And then he opened the door.
Rhynart was lying back against a metal frame.
He had bands wrapped around him, which flickered with electricity and made him gasp every time he tried to use a power. Hielo saw the bands changing form, just for a moment, and then the electricity kicked in and suppressed those abilities once again.
“There’s no point fighting,” Hielo said. “Those bands are crafted by a far, far stronger material than anything you’re used to back home.”
He walked over to the side of the table. Rhynart looked up at him, wide-eyed, with total fear.
“Hello, Rhynart.”
“How do—how do you—”
“How I know who you are isn’t the issue. I know you’re a good soldier. And I know you’re a good man. I also know you’re an ULTRA, and that’s a problem. Because I know what your kind are capable of.”
He leaned in closer toward Rhynart.
“However, you can make this whole process a lot easier for yourself. All you have to do is tell me the truth.”
Rhynart gasped and struggled. “The truth about… about what?”
“About the last ULTRAs you came into contact with. About who they were.”
Hielo saw the change in Rhynart’s expression right away. He knew Rhynart knew what he was referred to, and who he was talking about.
“I don’t… I didn’t…”
Hielo lifted a hand and hovered it over Rhynart’s head. “Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t make it any more difficult than it’s going to be already. For both of us.”
Rhynart lowered his gaze. Hielo could see him trying to figure out whether it was worth it, continuing lying, or to just open up and tell the truth.
Then he looked back up at Hielo, and Hielo knew he’d made his choice already. “I didn’t see any ULTRAs. I haven’t seen any ULTRAs for over six months.”
Hielo sighed. “I’m sorry you gave that answer. For both of us. I really am.”
Then he tightened his grip.
Rhynart’s eyes shut right away. His face turned red, and then purple.
All the while, Rhynart searched his mind, scoured his memories, all to find out the face of the one he was looking for.
He knew, deep down, who it was. But he just needed to see for himself.
And he needed to be sure Rhynart was lying before he did what he did next.
For a while, as he saw flashes of Rhynart’s last few months—alone, isolated, right in the desert—he started to actually believe Rhynart and wonder whether his soldiers had got it wrong all along.
But then he saw him.
One of his last memories. The fear of having that ULTRA turn up on his doorstep.
The ULTRA reaching out to him, just before Rhynart walked away.
Hielo sighed, and let loose his grip on Rhynart. He walked away from the side of Rhynart’s bed, leaving him gasping.
“I told you there was no point lying,” he said. “I’ve seen the truth now.”
He looked up, then. Looked right up at the circular opening above. He could see a light glowing there. The more he focused on it, the closer that light got.
“The world is going to fall, you know. All because of ULTRAs like you.”
“Please. Whatever it is you think I’ve done, I haven’t. I—”
“I wish there were another way,” Hielo said. And he meant that. He really did. “But this is the only way.”
He put a hand on Rhynart’s struggling chest.
“I’m sorry, old friend.”
“Please. Please!”
Then Hielo put his full concentration into that light above.
He saw the light crawl down and slam into Rhynart’s chest.
He heard Rhynart’s screams and gasps as the power left his body.
And as the guilt ran through Hielo’s body, he saw the image of that last ULTRA Rhynart had interacted with, and he knew for certain who he was after now.
He knew there could be no mistaking him.
The light stopped its assault, climbing back up into the shaft.
Rhynart let out a final gasp, then went still.
Hielo walked out of the room and back into his room, back over to the window.
He looked down at the Earth and he wondered where his target was, and what he was going to do to him.
Glacies.
18
I flew at the mothership, the eight remaining members of the Resistance by my side, and I hoped I was doing the right thing.
The further we got to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere, the darker things got.
It was all made even darker by the fact that we were getting nearer the mothership, which drooled pitch blackness.
The mothership was much like the smaller crafts that accompanied it. It was enormous, perfectly smooth, much like a rock of coal that had been dipped in varnish for a long, long time. There were tentacles shooting out of it, although these tentacles were as thick as islands. One punch by them would be enough to cause a tidal wave of epic proportions.
Or shatter a few ULTRA bones.
I shuddered at the thought. I couldn’t let that happen. None of us could.
We all flew together, covered by my invisibility, which I had cast over everyone. We didn’t want to rush into teleportation because with teleportation came risks. I’d discovered that first hand in the battle with Catalyst when I’d gone teleporting headfirst into a volcano and found myself in a trap.
Sure, the initial plan was teleportation. But like all the best plans, they developed over time.
“So what’s the plan?” Stone shouted.
“We told you the plan,” Daniel said. “We hit the mothership hard. Test its defenses. Then we know what we’re up against.”
“Oh. Damn,” Stone said. “That was the plan? I thought we were just throwing mud at a wall and seeing what stuck.”
“It’s the best idea we’ve got,” Roadrunner said. “Unless you can think of anything better.”
“What do you think, Glacies?” Vortex muttered. “You still fancy yourself as a genius?”
I hadn’t said much, to be fair. I thought the plan was solid enough. Testing the defenses of the mothership was wise. But I was trepidatious, too. I couldn’t stop feeling like I was Kyle, and not Glacies. And sure, I’d faced up to the fact I had to fight, now. But there were still so many issues and problems with this whole situation that I didn’t want to face.
Issues and problems that I didn’t think I had the strength to handle.
“Shit. Crafts ahead.”
I saw them right as Roadrunner spoke.
Three of those metal crafts, all flying toward us.
That sense of foreboding kicked in right away as I slowed to a halt. In turn, everyone slowed, as I was using my powers to make the whole lot of us go quicker.
“Um, did you mean to slow, Glacies?”
“I’m going to jump over them,” I said.
“What?”
“Just trust me. Okay?”
The crafts got closer. They seemed to be picking up pace as they approached. I had to time this right.
“I don’t trust you,” Daniel said. “That’s part of the problem.”
I ignored Daniel’s quip and closed my eyes.
Then I jumped us all through a small wormhole, right to the other side of the crafts.
I opened my eyes. I was cautious about the effects of my wormhole jumping, which seemed to have been hit and miss lately.
The crafts were right opposite us.
My stomach sank.
“Shit,” Stone said. “This is why we don’t goddamned trust you!”
A craft was just inches from my face.
I pulled back my fist and slammed it into it, charging it up with all my powers and wrapping my knuckles in the hardest ice I could forge.
The craft slipped out of the way, then slammed me between the legs with its long tentacle.
The pain was instant and insufferable. I winced and gripped my stomach.
I tried to charge up my energy again.
Then another of the tentacles grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air.
My heart pounded. I tried to shuffle my way free again. I couldn’t do this. I was trapped. I was trapped and I wasn’t Glacies, I was Kyle. I was Kyle and I was weak and I…
No.
I wasn’t Kyle.
I was Glacies.
I grabbed the tentacle and started to freeze it. I bit down my lip and pushed even harder. All around me, I was aware of the rest of the Resistance fighting off the crafts. Saint, though, was alone. He wasn’t helping me or anyone. He was just observing, like he was waiting for something bad to happen.
The tentacle slipped free of my hand.
No!
I reached for it with my telekinesis and yanked it back.
Then I poured a blast of ice at it.
I saw the tentacle recoil. I stretched it out, further freezing the section of the tentacle I’d stretched.
I kept on twisting it, kept on turning it, kept on believing.
I saw another tentacle swing around and try to grab it.
I lifted my hand, stopped it right in the air.
I felt blood dripping down my face and tasted it on my lips. I twisted around, facing the craft head on, heart pounding, muscles tensed.
“Go to hell,” I said.
I cracked my hands to either side.
The tentacles pulled free of the craft.
A sharp noise, like a cry, emitted from it.
Then the smooth, black body of the craft fell out of the sky and went crashing down to the Earth below.
“Good job,” Damon muttered, appearing beside me. “Only two more to go.”
My body recoiled. I turned around ready to fight off some more, even though I knew I didn’t have the energy.
“Just kidding,” Damon said, patting my back. “We sorted the others far quicker than you sorted that. What’s got into you, mate?”
I looked around at the eight other Resistance members, all of them floating, all still intact.
Then I looked down and saw the bodies of the crafts spiraling down to the ground below.
“Kyle?” Cassie said. “You okay?”
I didn’t know what she was talking about at first. Then I tasted the blood again, which had congealed around my lips.
When I tasted it, I started to feel faint.
“Shit,” Cassie said. “I think he needs some help…”
She said something else. I wasn’t sure what.
Because even though my body was here, my mind was elsewhere.
I looked up at the mothership.
All I could describe this feeling as was déjà vu. Serious déjà vu.
I’d been here before. I’d seen this before.
This wasn’t just déjà vu.
This was a flashback…
I saw a tentacle reaching out of the side of the big mothership, then. The others were all around me, all looking at me, so they couldn’t see it.
I tried to warn them. Tried to point at it. But I was just too weak.
“What’s he trying to say?” Stone said. “What’s he…”
Then he turned around, before anyone else.
“Oh. Oh sh—”
The tentacle slammed into all of us.
I felt a heavy crack to my head.
Then, darkness.
19
I saw darkness, and then I saw light.
I was in a room. I was standing over someone. Someone I recognized. They were strapped to a table, strange looking bands wrapped over their body.
It took me a few moments to realize that the someone I was looking at was Rhynart.
I saw that he was struggling, and that made me feel uneasy. This whole scenario felt dreamlike, but I was aware that I was unconscious, so it wasn’t any normal dream.
I hovered over the top of the table as Rhynart struggled and fought.
And then before I could help him, I found myself turning upwards, looking up at the opening above.
There was a light in that opening. It beamed down toward me. Although it was perfectly bright—so bright I could barely look at it—it had a form similar to the darkness that I’d seen growing from this mothership when I’d first seen it.
It was pure light. And it was strong.
I saw the light coming down that hatch and my body tensed. I heard Rhynart’s screams getting louder, and I knew I had to go. I wasn’t supposed to be here. This wasn’t for me to witness.
And still, I couldn’t help watching.
I saw the light reach out its formless hand and pull Rhynart’s body up against those bands.
I saw him trying to resist, electricity stretching across his chest, as something was pulled from his body. Something else light.
I saw it get yanked away from him.
And then the light disappeared up into the belly of the mothership, and I felt total power, and then—
“They’re harvesting our powers.”
Suddenly, I saw Cassie looking over me. Behind her, the rest of the Resistance. I wasn’t in that mothership or in that dream anymore. I was back in reality.
“Damn,” Stone said, stepping to my side. “The kid’s actually awake.”
“The mothership,” I said, unable to control my words. “It’s harvesting our abilities. That’s why… that’s why it’s hunting us.”
I saw the confused glances and the furrowed eyebrows. Behind these people, I could see that I was on an island. Back on one of the Galapagos, clearly.
“What did you just say?” Cassie asked.
I regained my breath and composure. My heart was still pounding rapidly. “I just… I don’t know.”
“You said something about them harvesting our abilities. Is that a theory?”
“No. I just know.”
“How do you know?”
I didn’t know what to say. I definitely couldn’t say “I’d dreamt it.” “I don’t know how I know. I just… I just do.”
More looks of confusion and amazement.
Daniel snorted. “No offense, brother, but you were the first to fall unconscious when we got knocked out of the sky. You’ve been lying down there pretty much ever since. And we’ve kept a close eye on you, don’t you worry.”
I knew how ridiculous I sounded, as I struggled to my feet. My head ached, and I felt tired and fatigued.
“Whatever Kyle claims he does or doesn’t know,” Stone said, “we’ve seen how strong their defenses are.”
“So what?” Orion said. “We just give up?”
“I’m just saying. We were lucky not to become alien jello last time round. We’d be very, very goddamned lucky if we escaped that fate again.”
I could hear the trepidation and I knew our assault on the mothership, brief as it had been, had already caused tensions amidst the group.
“I don’t think we should give up, necessarily,” Stone said. “Just… just go back to the drawing board. Completely.”
I heard the false optimism in his voice, and I could see that it hadn’t exactly inspired the rest of the group.
“So does anyone have any other ideas?”
There was silence. I saw them looking at me, but I didn’t know what to say either. What did we do?
“Maybe I can offer a suggestion.”
I looked over at Saint. As did everyone else.
He didn’t exactly look confident about what he had in mind.
“I’m sure you’re full of suggestions,” Roadrunner said.
“It’s not a conventional idea. But just hear me out. When… when, you know, I tried to take this planet.”
“Saint Attack v1 or Saint Attack v2?” Damon asked.
“The second time. I was aided by an army. Do you remember?”
“The ULTRAbots,” I said. “How could we forget?”
“What do the ULTRAbots have to do with anything, anyway?” Stone asked. “They’re all gone. Finished. We beat ’em.”
Saint look
ed toward the ground.
“Aren’t they?”
He looked back up. “Not exactly.”
“What? But they—”
“There were some I kept just in case.”
“Like how governments held on to a bit of smallpox,” Damon said. “Just in case?”
“They were unactivated. They were untrained. And if they were untrained, that means…”
“They can still be trained,” I said.
Saint nodded. “They can be trained to target an enemy. A very specific enemy.”
I saw the path opening up in front of us. I saw the realization spreading across the group.
All of us saw what we had to do now.
“So who’s ready to go awaken some ULTRAbots?”
20
If you’d told me just an hour ago that I’d soon be hunting down a hidden ULTRAbot lab that Saint had kept secret from the world, I would’ve told you that you were mad.
But such was the craziness of things right now, all of a sudden it felt kind of… well. Normal.
The first light of the sun was peeking over the Indonesian horizon. The Resistance—all nine of us—hovered above a stretch of sea that Saint had identified as where we needed to go. The sun was burning hot on the back of my neck, which not even a little of my ice could cool down. The silence of the place was intense and made me feel even more pressure than I’d felt already. I could smell the salt from the sea and taste it on my lips, even though I hadn’t submerged in that water.
Yet.
“So you expect us to just dunk ourselves down there, swim to the bottom of the sea and hope for the best?”
Stone’s bafflement and skepticism captured the mood of everyone. Vortex scratched the back of her neck, looking uncertain. Damon glanced from Cassie to me and back again. Even Daniel didn’t seem all that keen on this plan.
Saint drifted down toward the water, hovering just above it. “This was never going to be easy. If you thought it was going to be easy, then you really should have stayed at home.”
“My issue’s not so much with it looking easy or not,” Roadrunner said. “Rather, I just don’t really want to drown myself anytime soon.”
Saint tilted his head to one side. “If we get to the bottom of the ocean soon enough, then we won’t drown at all.” He looked to me then. “Glacies?”
