Girl Vs (Sinister Skies Book 1)

by Xela Culletto

  “What’s mine then?” I demanded.

  “You’re the only who one can answer that. What do you want it to be?”

  Hearing Allison’s question come from Caleb’s lips made me smile a little. He smiled back.

  “We should probably get going,” I said.

  He agreed and began picking up the napkins from our picnic. I followed his lead and gathered the water bottles. Why we worried about litter when the world was over, I wasn’t sure.

  Climbing back into the saddles, we resumed the ride back to the city. I was lost in thought, considering the question that was beginning to haunt me. What did I want?

  I wasn’t sure, and maybe that was okay, for now. Even if I didn't know what I wanted, one thing was perfectly clear to me. The one thing I was good for. When it came down to it, I would make sure the world didn't end with a whimper, but with a bang.

  Chapter 41

  I awoke with a start. Heart pounding, I sat up and looked around the dark room. All was quiet. A nightmare had jerked me from a restless slumber. The clock read 3:42, but there was no way I was going back to sleep, not with so much terror running through my bloodstream.

  Reaching for the glass of water I kept on the nightstand, I sat up and took a few sips, listening to the silence.

  The dream was Caleb’s fault. On the way back yesterday, after lunch, we’d been attacked. Two aliens, approaching from either side, had come running. Dismounting, I took care of the one nearest me, but Caleb’s horse had reared and bolted, giving the Vela opportunity to strike Caleb as he fell. Sprinting toward me, blood flowing down his arm, Caleb stumbled to his knees while I ran past him with my knives. I’d narrowly dodged an especially sharp slash before gutting the beast.

  Caleb was shaken up. With his horse gone, I insisted he ride Lucky the rest of the way back, which he had grudgingly agreed to. Apparently near-death experiences made Caleb chatty, because he wouldn’t stop rambling.

  “That’s the second time—the second time I’ve almost been killed. I can’t believe how you ran toward that thing, like it was nothing. They’re so big—huge. And their claws are so long. How can you not be scared? I watched this movie once, about alien abductions. It showed the people being dissected alive by aliens. You know, vivisection. It was horrible and I can’t stop thinking about it. Why aren’t you more scared of them? How can you just go right up to them?”

  He went on like that for half an hour before eventually calming down enough to thank me for slaughtering the two beasts and saving his life. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that they weren’t actually dead, that new ones would be hatching out of the old ones’ bodies soon.

  As we came upon the city, Caleb rushed to get behind the walls. I dropped him off at the hospital where Dr. Webb was sitting at the nurse’s station reading an old magazine. Once I learned Caleb wasn’t in danger of permanent damage, I returned home and tried to sleep.

  So much for that.

  Caleb was a good guy, but he just wasn’t a fighter. His place was caring for living things, not killing them. Still, I couldn’t deny that I found myself drawn to him. Those feelings were pointless though. I’d been drawn to Tristen too, and obviously that had been a mistake.

  Restless, I listened intently for the sound of Claire’s television. She’d kept the volume much lower since that first night, but I could just detect a sweeping musical score. Despite the hour, I didn’t blame her; the actors were likely her only company.…

  I left my room and knocked on Claire’s door. She opened it with a smile.

  “I was hoping you’d stop by,” she said.

  “I should’ve come earlier. I just…” I trailed off, not sure how to explain everything that had happened.

  “I’m so glad you made it back,” she said, rescuing me from the awkward silence. “You up for a movie?”

  I nodded. Anything to keep the nightmares away.

  As promised, she put Blackbeard’s Ghost into the dvd player and I settled into the recliner. Claire rummaged around the cupboards and produced a box of Twinkies.

  “I traded a high-tech radio for these—I thought you’d like them. It’s true what they used to say—Twinkies really do last forever.”

  I wasn’t sure how I’d lucked out by getting her for a neighbor, but I greedily accepted her offering. Together we watched the movie—another corny old one—until sunrise. I thanked Claire and returned home, laying down on the bed without much hope of sleeping.

  Despite my misgivings, though, I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew a knock was sounding on the door.

  “One second,” I grumbled, pulling some sweat pants under the long yellow shirt I wore as pajamas. I was getting pretty sick of yellow.

  Glancing at the clock on the way to the door I was surprised to see it was midmorning.

  “Hello Rhyan,” a short and unfamiliar woman said as I opened the door. “I’m Tess, Springfield’s Director of Offensive Strategy. I apologize for disturbing you, but I need to speak with you about something quite urgent.”

  “Um. Okay.”

  I opened the door wider to allow her in. She was dressed casually in jeans and tennis shoes, and her hair was pulled into a short pony tail. Walking straight in, she settled onto the chair, leaving me with no other place to sit than the unmade bed.

  “I’ll be brief,” she said, glancing at her watch. “There’s an emergency meeting being held this afternoon at the city’s capital, and we’d like for you to attend. We need people with your skill set to assist with a pressing matter. I can’t say any more now, and if you agree to come, you’ll have to be discreet.”

  “Wait…. You want me to come to a meeting because there’s some sort of emergency? That you…need aliens killed for?”

  “I suppose you could put it that way. The information you’ll receive, if you agree to come, is absolutely classified. Do you understand?”

  I nodded, and almost before I knew what I was doing, had agreed to attend. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do. And hunting Vela? I was always game.

  “Why don’t you get showered and come with me now? It’s only a fifteen minute drive, but you’ll probably want to eat something first. I know a place.”

  Again I agreed with her request. After I showered and began packing some things into a day bag, it occurred to me that I had just decided to get in a car and drive away with a complete stranger. My father would have been appalled. But things were different now.

  Besides, I thought as I slipped a pocket knife into my sock, if Tess is up to something, it’s her I feel sorry for.

  An hour later I was transported (in a shiny blue sedan into the heart of the city), fed (a muffin from the bakery), and sat (on a rich leather chair) around an intimate conference table. The meeting was being held on the forty-second floor of a glassy skyscraper, and one entire wall of the room was a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the sea of buildings.

  Tess had been nothing but businesslike all morning and it was clear the others in the room were of the same mind. No one said a word of pleasantries even though there were at least a dozen people, several who seemed to know each other.

  I was told to sit a few chairs away from Tess, who was next to a slightly overweight, bearded man. He must have been in charge because as soon as everyone was seated, he began speaking in a gravelly voice.

  “I’d like to remind everyone that the proceedings of this meeting are to remain confidential. Everyone here has a direct tie in one way or another to the information I’m about to share and no one else needs to know it.”

  I glanced around the table. It was made up of mostly men, ranging in age from twenties-ish up to sixties-ish, but not many women and no other teenagers. I was a little astounded that I was sitting in the company of these strangers. What a turn the day had taken.

  “Ian is our information specialist,” the man continued, “and has spent the last year intercepting messages the enemy sends internally. I’ll let him share what he’s recently learned
.”

  Across the table, a slim, nervous-looking man stood up.

  “A-about a year ago I was able to set up a system that allowed us access to every message the Vela send on their networks. There’s a team of interpreters working night and day to translate the information we receive. Yesterday we learned…”

  He cut himself off and with a trembling hand took a drink of water before continuing.

  “We learned that they are prepping to send an intergalactic message to their cohorts. They’re requesting backup in the form of a million more ground units.”

  Chapter 42

  Panic surged through my gut—how could they expect me to take on a million aliens? But of course that wasn’t the plan.

  “However,” Ian went on, “the message has not yet been sent. They’re waiting until their ally’s ship is in position to receive it, which will be in,“ he checked his watch, “sixteen hours, thirty-eight minutes.”

  Ian seemed to gain confidence as he spoke—the urgency of the information outweighing his nerves.

  “The message itself would take several months to arrive at the receiving ship, even with the faster-than-light technology they have, and of course it would take a few more before they reached earth, but I think we can all agree that’s a situation we’d rather not have.”

  The bearded man who’d begun the meeting interrupted.

  “Thank you, Ian.”

  Ian took the hint and sat down as the man continued.

  “You’ve each been invited to this room because you each need to perform a role in stopping this message from being sent.”

  Nervous glances were exchanged around the table.

  “We’re sending a team into the heart of Vela headquarters in Riverside, nearly three hundred miles from here—where Ian believes he can thwart their computer system and hinder the delivery of the message without their being aware. Obviously this scheme calls for an undercover operation. We simply don’t have the numbers to confront a city overrun, so the name of this game is stealth.”

  It was becoming clear why I’d been invited. They needed a bodyguard for Ian. A quiet one who knew how to work without the blast of firearms. But a whole city? One that was sure to have optimal defense? No one was that good.

  “Time is short—the trip alone will take nearly two hours—and we don’t have the luxury of debating. If you’re not willing to help, leave now.”

  Either because they didn’t want to seem weak or because the group had been well-chosen, no one moved. The man gave a curt nod and then flipped the lights off and turned on a projector screen. It showed a map of a city center with a red line running through the streets, ending at a wide, squat building.

  “This is the projected path of the infiltration team, which will consist of Ian, Anthony, Rhyan, and Derek.” I glanced around but couldn’t pick up any clues who might belong to those names.

  “Based on satellite images, these streets appear less inhabited. Of course improvisation may need to take place. Regardless of the route, the destination is here—the technology center. Ian is going to need as much time as possible in there, so speed is imperative.”

  He turned from the screen to the table of uneasy faces.

  “Up to this point, you all have had varying levels of clearance. As of now, however, I’m granting top secret authorization. We’ve been in communications with several countries in Europe, as well as Russia, and, given their assistance, we might—might—be able to turn the tide of this war. But if this message is sent, all of that is lost. There is no possible way we could hope to overcome a million more of these monsters. Not with a year to prepare, not with a decade. This team—the people sitting in this room, right now—this is humanity’s last hope.”

  He paused, allowing that to hover in the silence for a moment before flipping the lights back on.

  “The infiltration team needs to be at the airport, hangar five, in two hours time. Use those minutes to pack your supplies, say your farewells, whatever you need. But don’t be late. You’ll be briefed on the plane. The rest of you will meet in the operation center. Go.”

  In an instant everyone was leaving the room, full of purpose. Tess appeared at my side.

  “I’m at your disposal for the next two hours. Whatever you need, just say the word.”

  “I want Kalisha,” I blurted. “I want her free and clear of any repercussions.”

  “Kalisha?” Her brow furrowed. “Isn’t that the woman who shot the Captain?”

  I nodded.

  “Let’s talk in the car,” she replied, exiting through the door.

  Moments later, as we were speeding through the vacant streets back toward my place, Tess said, “This Kalisha must be a good friend.”

  “She shot the Captain, but he threatened to kill her. She didn’t—“

  “I know all about that,” Tess interrupted. I looked at her in surprise.

  “We’d had our concerns about the man for a while—we’d been monitoring him. We discovered that he’d been making preparations for a while to clear out his sector. He wanted everyone out of it. Dead, if necessary.”

  “But why?”

  “He believed it was inevitable that the enemy would overcome the city. He thought if his sector was cleared out, they would pass through the area without a search. A bunker in what used to be the mayor’s house had been stocked to the brim, and he’d hoped to squirrel away in it. Really it boiled down to cowardice.”

  I let that sink in for a moment before replying, “Then maybe you should be thanking Kalisha, for getting rid of him for you.”

  “You’re down to ninety-seven minutes before leaving on a mission from which you could potentially never return, and your only thoughts are for her?”

  “I just… I owe her. She wouldn’t be in prison if not for me.”

  Tess nodded, then, taking a turn at breakneck speed, said, “All right then. Your final act will be a prison break.”

  As she said that, a little of the burden I’d been carrying in my chest fell away. At least something good would come from this.

  “Tess?” I asked. “Why did you pick me? How did you even know about me?”

  A slight smile appeared on her lips as she responded.

  “Oh that was easy. I asked a dozen people, and every last one gave me the same answer. You want a fighter? Find Rhyan.”

  Chapter 43

  The prison was deserted. The parking lot was empty, the door locked, and the lights out.

  “Are you sure they didn’t release her already?” Tess asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. But more likely they only come to bring her food and otherwise keep it locked.”

  My heart wrenched at the thought. How long had she been in there now? Weeks? With no one to talk to—not even a window to look out.

  “Look, Rhyan. We don’t have time to go running around trying to find help. We’ll just have to leave a—“

  She trailed off as a white car pulled up to the curb. A burly man stepped out.

  “What’s going on?” he asked when he saw us.

  “I’m Springfield’s Director of Offensive Strategy,” Tess said, stepping toward him with her hand outstretched. “We’re on urgent business from the capital involving the young woman you have in here. I’m authorizing her release.”

  The man shook Tess’s hand and stared at the both of us for a long moment. Just as I was certain he was going to argue, he said, “All right. I’m sick of coming out here all the time anyway. You take her with you though—I don’t want to see her around here. It’ll just cause trouble.”

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, but Tess was all business.

  “Thank you, Mr....”

  “Blake. Just call me Blake.”

  “Thank you, Blake.”

  He pulled out a jumble of keys and used one to unlock the door. I braced myself for the worst: a weak, maybe even delirious Kalisha with wild eyes and unkempt hair. As we turned the corner I saw her lying on the bed with h
er feet up on the wall, crossed at the ankles. She turned her head up when she heard us.

  “Rhyan? Is that you?”

  Drawing her long legs off the wall she sat up. I stood outside the bars and studied her. She hadn’t been starved and it looked like they’d even given her a hairbrush. Other than an acrid body odor, she seemed to be in reasonable condition.

  “We’re getting you out,” I told her.

  Blake fumbled through the keys and stepped past me. He paused before pressing the key into the hole.

  “I guess it’s your lucky day, Kalisha. But when you leave, you leave for good. I don’t want to see you around again. Do you understand?”

  “Like I’ve been tellin’ you for weeks, Blake—let me go and I’ll be outta your hair. I ain’t comin’ back.”

  “Good. I just want to be clear.”

  He turned the key and opened the door. Kalisha stepped out threw her arms around me. Caught off guard, I stepped backward.

  “Thanks for getting’ me out, Rhyan. That was the worst time of my life, includin’ when I worked at the pickle factory.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. Blake turned and left.

  “This is Tess,” I said.

  Tess nodded in acknowledgment.

  “We need to go, Rhyan, especially if you want to stop by your place before.”

  “Before what?” Kalisha asked.

  “Let’s go,” Tess said pointedly, and turned to leave. Kalisha and I followed. As we stepped into the sunshine, Kalisha raised her arms and breathed in a lungful of air. Then, a little reluctantly, she climbed into the car next to me and Tess began zooming through the streets. She must’ve been a NASCAR driver in her past life. In record time, we squealed up to the curb of my building.

  “I’ll wait here. You’ve got fifteen minutes,” Tess said. Kalisha, obviously not wanting to be alone with psycho-driver, followed me up the four flights to the apartment.

  “What’s goin’ on Rhyan?” she asked as soon as we were inside. “Who’s Tess?

  Not wasting any time, I threw myself to the floor, feeling under the bed for my favorite knife. “It’s a long story—I can’t explain right now.”