by J. J. Green
“You can’t. I’m too heavy.”
“You really think so? Try me.” She gave two small grunts. “I’ve anchored my feet in the ice. Grab my hands.”
Carl jumped and gripped the woman’s small hands. He swung there for a moment, then, unbelievably, he found himself being lifted upward and out of the Shadow base.
The moment he could reach the edge of the hatchway with his knee, he levered himself the rest of the way. Sayen was grinning.
Now they just had to get Harrington. He looked into the hatch and quickly drew his head away as Shadows in the corridor fired at him. He caught a brief glimpse of return fire from Harrington below him. She was using the door as cover.
“Harrington,” he shouted down.
“I’ve set a bomb,” came her voice directly below him. “Run. Get Sayen away.”
But the woman was scrabbling back to the hole. “Jas, take my hands.” She thrust her arms into the hatch, and screamed. Her face was twisted in pain, but she heaved an invisible Harrington out of the hole.
They ran.
The ground shuddered, and Carl was thrown down as the Shadow base exploded behind him. Smoking debris began to rain from the sky. He scrambled to his feet, and went to continue, but the body of a Shadow fell in front of him. Carl halted in horror. The thing was still alive. It had a weapon in its hand. It was aiming at Carl. Rooted to the spot, there was nothing he could do.
Then the weapon sailed out of the Shadow’s hand. Someone had kicked it away. Harrington?
The Shadow died.
Chapter Seventeen
“That’s it, Makey,” Harrington said through her teeth. “When we get back to London, you’re on your own. No more mentoring. You’re not fit to work in security or anywhere else where people put their lives in your hands.”
The security officer was somewhere off to Carl’s right. They were nearly back at the snowmobiles. He could see them a short distance away, black against the pale gray ice.
Harrington’s words were the first she’d spoken since they’d left the remains of the Shadow base. Her pitch was low and calm, but it was clear she was in an absolute rage.
“What? Why?” came the kid’s voice from his left.
“I gave you a direct order to stay by the rope. You disobeyed. You followed us to the Shadow base. If there’s one thing you must never, ever do, it’s disobey an order.”
“Come on, Harrington,” Carl said. “He saved my life when he kicked that Shadow’s weapon away.”
“That’s how it looked to me, too,” added Sayen. She was still wearing very little clothing, and she was walking barefoot across the ice, but she’d assured them that she was fine. She’d explained that the body enhancements that had enabled her to lift both Carl and Harrington out of the Shadow base also protected her from extreme heat and cold.
Across her forearms, however, the skin was burned and blistered where the beam from a Shadow’s weapon had scored it when she’d reached into the hole for a second time. Without her enhanced skin, her arms would have been severed.
“Don’t interfere with things you don’t understand, Carl,” Jas said. “You were lucky, kid, that’s all. You could have died, or you could have gotten the rest of us killed. You never disobey an order. If you don’t get that, it’s over. Forget it.”
Carl said, “Jas, don’t you—”
“This is none of your business,” she exclaimed.
Anger rose in Carl in return. The woman’s temper got on his nerves, and in this case it wasn’t justified. Makey was just a kid, and he’d been a big help at a sticky moment. But before Carl could reply, Harrington continued, “When we get back to the snowmobiles, we need to change our clothes and wipe off the spray. Then we head straight to the spaceport. There are probably Shadows in McMurdo Sound, and I don’t know how long we have before they’re alerted about us.”
The invisibility spray came off when scrubbed with handfuls of ice. By the time he was free of the sticky substance, Carl was freezing. His hands were red and raw from holding the ice, and he could barely feel them. He thrust them into his mittens, but that made little difference. It was odd seeing Makey and Jas slowly reappear as they and cleaned off the spray. Sayen stood by, her arms wrapped around herself, watching them all in amusement.
“How are we going to get Sayen on a shuttle?” Makey asked. “She doesn’t have any ID.”
“Don’t worry,” Sayen said. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem. But I do need some clothes. I don’t suppose you have any to spare?”
Makey was the closest in size of the three of them to the petite woman, but she still looked ridiculous in his pants, rolled up at the ankles, and his sweater, which hung almost to her knees.
They decided they couldn’t risk taking the time to get her anything more suitable. They had to get out of McMurdo Sound before the Shadows made a move against them.
Before they set off, Harrington mailed a one-word message to Sayen’s parents: Success.
Jas was silent all the way to the spaceport, and Carl didn’t say much either. He remained angry with her over her tirade at Makey. He was beginning to wonder what he’d ever seen in her. She could be moody and difficult, and her outbursts of temper were annoying.
Harrington’s message seemed to have born fruit when they arrived at the check in for the next flight to the U.S. The clerk didn’t ask to see any of their IDs, and neither did the shuttle staff when they boarded.
Carl, Sayen, and Makey sat three abreast, while Harrington sat across from them. From the look on her face, Carl would never have guessed that they had just saved their friend from grave danger and taken out twenty or thirty Shadows. He didn’t know if he would ever figure her out, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to try. He turned to Sayen.
“So, what did you find out that made them come for you?” he asked in a low voice, taking care not to be overheard in the public passenger cabin.
“I’ll explain later,” she replied. “But one thing I can say is, they’re good at mimicking us. I thought my manager was a sweet man, but it turned out he was one of them. We can’t trust anyone.”
Carl thought of his parents. Would he ever find them? And if he did, could he be sure it was really them?
Across the aisle, Harrington’s interface beeped. She swiped the screen to read the message. Her sour expression turned sourer still. Wordlessly, she handed the screen across to Sayen. As she read it, the woman’s face fell.
She angled the device so that Carl and Makey could also see it.
Please do not bring our daughter home. We’re so sorry. They know who you are. It is is no longer safe to come here. You must disappear. Do not use anything that will allow you to be traced. A friend will meet you at the spaceport you’re traveling to and give you a package. Good luck. S, we love you, darling.
Sayen looked like she was about to cry. Carl put an arm over her shoulders.
“Don’t worry. We defeated them back there, like we did aboard the Galathea. They’re not invincible. We’ll find out who they are, and we’ll destroy them. Whether they’re in government, or corporations, or the military, or even if they’ve made it to the Transgalactic Council itself. We’ll get them all. They aren’t going to win.”
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ALSO BY J.J. GREEN
THE GALATHEA CHRONICLES
shadows of the void books 1 - 3
MISSION IMPROBABLE
Carrie Hatchett, Space Adventurer #1
DEATH SWITCH
THERE COMES A TIME
A SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTION
DAWN FALCON
A FANTASY COLLECTION
Copyright © 2016 J.J. Green
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First Edition.
