The Tundra Trials

by Monica Tesler

  “They’re beneath us!” someone shouts.

  I shake my head, thinking I’ve somehow missed the elevator cab crossing the remaining distance to the bay.

  But no. That’s not it.

  The Youli ship glides beneath the space dock. As it passes, I see the reflection of all our waiting faces in the ship’s metal surface.

  As soon as the ship passes from view, it turns around and crosses again. A beam of light trails behind the ship and slings around the elevator shaft with each turn.

  Cries rise up around us. “What are they doing? What is that light?”

  Oh . . . my . . . no. The Youli ship is wrapping that light beam around the elevator shaft. They’re trying snap the shaft in two like a dry twig.

  Everything shifts back into that Evolution of Combat mode again. The Tunneler on my left sniffs and bats at his whiskers. I think he’s crying. The officer next to me crouches and bangs at the floor with his fists. The air smells of smoke and wet cat and dirty gym clothes.

  Commander Krag barks furiously into a receiver that looks oddly like an old-fashioned telephone back on Earth.

  The Youli ship swings around for another pass at the elevator shaft with its light cable.

  Is the guy Marco and I tackled on that ship?

  Are our pod mates watching from the surface?

  Will I ever see Mom and Dad again?

  Will they tell Addy I died a hero when she reports for her first tour of duty?

  “No!” I shout, but I can barely hear myself. The bay is filled with screams and cries and smoke and fear. I pull Mira close and force myself not to close my eyes.

  With one final tug, the Youli ship breaks the shaft of the space elevator.

  28

  THE DOCK PITCHES AWAY FROM the shaft as it’s jettisoned from its anchor. We’re launched into the air. Mira slips from my grasp. My back slams against the center console, and I tumble down the clear floor, now tipped on its side. Landing in a pile of Tunnelers and humans, I grope for Mira. My brain nearly bursts from fear—mine and hers. That must mean she’s conscious, which means she’s still alive.

  I shove past a Tunneler, and wiggle to the top of the body pile. At the center of the dock, Commander Krag shouts into the phone and jabs at the control panels. He’s tied himself to the console with long strips of brown burlap ripped from a Tunneler frock.

  Beneath us, the elevator cab continues to rise, unable to stop its propulsion. It shoots up the shaft and off its tracks, heading straight for us. The cab slams into the space dock. I’m thrown back in a heap with the other struggling survivors.

  Debris from the collision rains down on the planet below.

  Lights blink on and off then shut down completely. Seconds later, emergency lights ignite. The dock starts to level, and I scramble to my hands and knees and crawl to the corner of the dock where I sense Mira.

  Here! Here! She knows I’m coming. A delicate, gloved hand pushes up from beneath an Earth Force officer slumped against the wall.

  I reach the officer and roll him off, unsure if he’s dead or just unconscious. Mira pushes past the body and throws her arms around my neck.

  Are you okay? I ask her.

  She doesn’t answer, but the fear that floods my brain is laced with relief and determination. I can’t see how we’re getting off this dock alive, but at least we’re together.

  “Attention!” Commander Krag says over the intercom. “Help is on its way. Please proceed quickly but orderly to the flight deck.”

  Help is on its way? How?

  “Look below!” someone shouts.

  From the surface of Gulaga, a passenger craft blasts through the atmosphere and glides through the occludium shield.

  “They’re coming for us!”

  Go! Mira darts forward, clenching my hand.

  We rush and shove through the bay door and into the narrow hallways that connect with the flight deck. Our hands are clamped like a lifeline, and we press forward in the wave of the crowd.

  We spill onto the deck just as the passenger craft touches down. There’s a huge gouge in the right wing, and smoke billows up from the tail. The ramp lowers, and the crowd swells aboard.

  When we enter the cabin, the craft lifts off. Mira and I are thrown to our knees. I haul myself into a seat and help her in after me. We fasten our harnesses as the craft banks into a 360-degree turn straight into a spiral dive for the surface.

  “Whoa!” the Tunneler beside me shouts. “Who is flying this thing?”

  “I have a guess,” comes a voice from behind. I turn around to find Captain Han in the next row.

  “The only person I know who can fly a passenger craft like this is Admiral Eames,” he continues. “And that means we just might make it.”

  The admiral is at the helm? Everyone always says she was the best pilot in the Earth Force fleet. I hope she still is.

  The ship rocks left, jerks right, then drops. Smoke fans in from the side. We gun ahead then circle back, maneuvering through the Youli lasers that flash like fireworks out the front windows.

  Mira squeezes my palm. I squeeze my eyes shut. Our lives are out of our hands now. All we can do is wait and trust in the admiral to fly us to safety. And that’s probably a long shot.

  Every moment takes a minute. Every minute takes an hour. My mind races back over the last six weeks.

  The Youli battle. The night in the cave with Mira. Regis and the bridge.

  Our pod. The Nest. Neeka. Grok and the Den and the Tunneler band. Connecting with old friends. Building alliances.

  And so many secrets. The Youli. The Alkalinians. The summit. The brain patches.

  My mind speeds all the way back to Addy’s room. She was furious at me for keeping secrets. You’re loyal to them. To Earth Force. Not to me.

  I see it so clearly, now, at the end. Everyone demanding I keep their secrets. My parents insisting that I keep quiet about being a Bounder. Earth Force commanding us to keep the Youli war confidential. Waters making me shut up about the brain patches.

  Everything is built on secrets. All the way back to the Incident at Bounding Base 51 and the Bounder Baby Breeding Program. The war we’re expected to fight is waged on secrets. And secrets led the Youli to our doorstep.

  But that’s not what really matters right now, in my last moments. What matters is me. My role. My responsibilities. Why am I keeping secrets? Why am I hiding the truth from the only people in the world who truly have my back?

  My sister.

  My pod.

  Sometimes even myself.

  I may never make it back to Earth. I may never even reach Gulaga. But if I do, I make this vow: I am done with other people’s secrets. My loyalty lies with my pod and with my sister and with my fellow Bounders. If I ever keep another secret, it’s out of my loyalty to them.

  Cheers erupt in the cabin, shaking me back to the present moment, speeding everything up.

  I open my eyes. The window is clouded by a silvery haze.

  “We’ve passed through the shields,” Admiral Eames’s voice says over the intercom.

  Oh my god. We actually made it?

  More cheers. And claps. And whistles.

  Mira hugs me. Han slaps me five.

  We’re descending to the surface, safe beneath the shield.

  Seconds later, the passenger craft lowers onto the tarmac on Gulaga. Crews rush alongside, spraying down the fires from the Youli attack.

  Once the craft is deemed safe, the ramp is lowered, and we’re waved off. Tunnelers cover us in fur blankets and urge us to hurry. The temperature on the surface is so cold, we could be compromised in minutes without the proper gear. The icy air fills my lungs and slaps the exposed pockets of skin on my face and hands. They rush us across the tarmac and down the tunnel, through the antechambers and the outfitter center, and into the tunnels of Gulaga.

  Hurry, hurry, hurry, deeper and deeper into the bowels of Gulagaven.

  When we reach the central chasm, I grind to a halt and gaze out
over the bottomless pit. I can’t believe we actually made it.

  Mira slides in beside me. No more secrets.

  She knows what I was thinking. She must have been walking with me through the memories. “You’ve got to stop peeking into my brain like that!”

  She rests her head on my shoulder, and our minds hum with a sparkly energy of possibility and promise.

  The five of us huddle in the Nest. I didn’t know it was possible for our pod to be so quiet for so long, but it turns out having so much to say and nothing to say are very close cousins.

  The truth is, we’re lost in our memories of the day and the tour.

  There were casualties.

  Six Tunnelers died when the cab was launched from the elevator shaft.

  Eight Earthlings and thirteen more Tunnelers, including Neeka’s father, Commander Krag, didn’t make it off the space dock.

  One of the new aeronauts was killed in the quantum ship explosion we saw from the Youli bridge. A cadet was also lost in the explosion. Lian had just initiated a bound and failed to materialize. She’s presumed dead, just like the aeronauts from the Incident at Bounding Base 51.

  My mind keeps returning to the Youli ship, probably so I don’t have to think about everyone who died today. Even though we’re at war, even though their attack led to the death of my comrades, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to the Youli than we know.

  Three words echo in my mind: Stop! Peace! Please!

  I close my eyes and see us trudging along the squishy orange hallway. I know it’s crazy, but I wish we could have explored the ship. I want to see where the Youli sleep, what they eat, how big their flight deck is, if they even have a flight deck. Before, when all I knew about the Youli came from the space station prisoner, or the Paleo Planet attack, or the Earth Force tales of our alien enemy, the Youli could be contained as a story in my mind.

  Now, since I’ve hid in their ship, walked down their halls, heard their voices, I want to know more. I want to know how the Youli live. They’re not a story. They’re real. And as different as they are from us, I’m starting to think we’re more the same than we’ve been led to believe.

  Waters called them friends, and as wrong as Waters has been, I still think he’s basically right. After all, today we attacked first. They asked us to stop. They wished for peace. They even said please.

  Marco paces across the furry fungus rug, unable to sit still for more than a minute at a time. Gulagaven has been on full lockdown since Admiral Eames piloted the passenger craft to the surface. Even though the planet is shielded, we’re under strict orders not to venture beyond the lower sublayers. If the Youli manage to penetrate our defenses, we have a better shot of surviving a ground attack in the lower levels.

  Last we heard, no Youli ships have been spotted in Gulagan space since two hours after the space elevator disaster, thank goodness. If the coast is still clear by tomorrow morning, they’ll shuttle the Bounders off the planet.

  A knock at the door makes me jump. The handle twists, and Gedney steps in.

  “I’m so relieved you’re all here,” he says, entering our temporary pod room. “I knew you made it back, of course, but it feels better to see you with my own eyes.”

  “Did the virus patch work?” Cole asks.

  Gedney rubs his forehead. “It’s too soon to tell. I have no reason to think it won’t.”

  “That was quite a summit you shipped us to,” Marco says. “Waters wasn’t kidding when he said intragalactic relations are complicated. There were a lot of aliens there, Geds. A lot more than Earth Force has told us about.”

  Secrets. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the bottom of Earth Force’s secrets.

  “Where is Waters?” I ask. I have words for Waters. Lots of words about his handy-dandy little brain patches, which led the Youli right to our doorstep.

  Gedney stares at his shoes for a long moment before speaking. “He’s gone.”

  “What do you mean ‘gone’?” Lucy asks.

  Gedney sits beside me on the squishy bench. “I mean, I don’t expect he’ll be back. It was time for him to part ways with Earth Force. Past time, really. He’s a good man, and a great friend, but even good men make mistakes. And even great men can let the end goal get in the way of the proper path.”

  “Riddles, Geds,” Marco says. “Those are no more than riddles.”

  “Not riddles, Mr. Romero. Just an old man too tired to speak plainly. I wanted to see you kids before I go. I’m leaving for the laboratory on an early shuttle.” He pushes himself up. He looks half-Tunneler the way he’s hunched over.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe,” he continues. “We’ll be back together in a few months. Hopefully a few things will have changed. Some cadet behavior this tour was inexcusable.”

  “You heard about the bridge?” I ask. “The stolen gloves?”

  Gedney nods. “That’s not something I can let stand. I only wish Waters had told me sooner.”

  “You’re booting Regis from the Force?” Marco asks.

  “Nothing is certain, except it looks like I’ll be in charge of your pod.”

  “You’re going to be our pod leader?” Cole asks.

  Gedney smiles. “And I bet you thought you had bad luck with Waters. Wait until those new cadets meet me!”

  It’s hard to believe a new group of Bounders will be joining the EarthBound Academy next tour. When I ship out for my third tour, Addy will be with me. She’ll start her training to be a soldier.

  “Will they be sending us to battle when we return?” I ask. “What about the new cadets?”

  “Ah yes, Jasper, your sister will be joining us.” When I nod, he continues, “The new cadets will need to master the glove technology. Much is up in the air. The admiral . . .” Gedney lets his words fall off.

  “The admiral what?” Marco says.

  Gedney doesn’t answer.

  “Please, Mr. Gedney,” Lucy says. “If there’s something we should know about our third tour, please tell us.”

  Gedney purses his lips. “Very well. I’ve been informed that the Alkalinians invited the Bounders to train on their planet. During our post-battle briefing, Admiral Eames discussed sending an advance delegation to assess the risk. The admiral is aware of your pod’s skills. Depending on what she hopes to accomplish, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were selected.”

  So the admiral is going to accept Seelok’s “invitation.” Whoever gets sent to that snake den is walking right into peril, I’m sure of it. I really hope Gedney’s wrong, and it’s not our pod. Regis would be an excellent choice, unless Gedney somehow manages to get him expelled from EarthBound Academy.

  Either way, we’ll be expected to report back to duty in a few months. Addy will be with me, and the stakes will be even higher.

  29

  THE CROWD IN THE PARLIAMENT Chamber is rowdy and loud, kind of like the mood on the flight deck once our pod bounded off the Youli vessel, but now the celebration contains a thread of darkness woven with the deaths of our friends and comrades.

  Sheek is hamming it up for the cameras again. Pose right. Pose left.

  “How did he get to be the face of Earth Force?” Lucy asks. “He didn’t even see action in battle.”

  “They can’t risk tarnishing his pretty face, obviously,” Marco says.

  When the admiral’s honor guard enters, we take seats in our carrel. The admiral herself soon follows. Butterfly bandages close a cut on her left cheek that she must have gotten when she flew the rescue mission to the space dock. At least she fought alongside us.

  Ridders silences the crowd as the admiral steps to the podium. “Greetings, fellow officers and cadets of the EarthBound Academy. You have served your planet well. You have acted with courage and heroism. While our thoughts are with our fallen comrades, who gave their lives for our cause, let us honor their memory by standing together in solidarity and victory. I am pleased to confirm that Operation Vermis was a success.”

  All around u
s, cadets and officers jump to their feet, cheering and clapping. I slowly rise with my pod mates.

  Soon one cheer crystallizes above all others:

  “Birthright, Bounders fight!”

  “Birthright, Bounders fight!”

  “Birthright, Bounders fight!”

  The admiral gestures for quiet. “Yes! Bounders! When you’re back next tour, there will be much work to do. With the Youli weakened, our offensive will be in full force. You will again be asked to defend your planet. And you will again rise to the challenge!

  “Tomorrow,” the admiral continues, “you will be heading home as the second tour of duty of the EarthBound Academy draws to a close. But today we have even more reason for celebration! The tokens have been counted, and we have a winner of the Tundra Trials! Let me turn the podium over to Captain Sheek, who will announce the victor.”

  Sheek strides to the podium and strikes a few more poses. “Thank you, Admiral. And thank you to everyone who helped make the Tundra Trials a great success. The competition was fierce, and a late disqualification of a top contender led to some last-minute drama—”

  “A completely unfair disqualification,” Cole mumbles under his breath.

  “But I am pleased to announce,” Sheek continues, “that we have a clear champion. Before I announce the winning pod, let me announce the prize. As many of you know, Earth Force is days away from launching the Paleo Planet tourism initiative. The winning pod will accompany me on the first public tour. That’s right. We’ll be flying out together on the brand-new, custom-built 770 passenger crafts, and it will all be featured on my Paleo Planet EFAN special.”

  “That is so unfair!” Lucy says.

  “Why?” Marco says. “That prize stinks. We’ve already been to the Paleo Planet. We almost died, remember?”

  “Now, I won’t keep you in suspense a moment longer,” Sheek continues. “The winners just so happen to be my very own pod, now led by Captain James Ridders! Captain, cadets, will you please join me down here?”

  “Yes!” I say. “Our allies won!”

  Everyone claps as Ryan, Meggi, Annette, and their pod mates meet up with Ridders and Sheek at the podium. The EFAN crew is ushered back in to snap shots of the victors, and Sheek, of course.