Valiant

by Merrie Destefano

  “Almost there,” Justin says.

  “We’re on our way up,” Natalie says. “I had to do quite a bit of hacking to get all the stuff you wanted.”

  I’m craning my neck, looking for them, knowing that fourteen flights is a long way to walk and it sucks that my elevator is still broken, but they should be here any second, and we only have about fifteen minutes before the launch.

  Fifteen minutes before the end of the world.

  I panic. “I know you’re on your way up, but don’t stay here after the launch, okay?” I say. I wasn’t going to mention this until a minute or two before the rocket took off. Aerithin always said that I have to keep my plans secret, since someone could be watching or listening to me. But I can’t let my crew die just because those alien monsters are after Gabe and me. Not this time.

  “Got it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Yup.”

  Gabe’s staring at me with his head cocked. He knows Billy and I have been talking to each other. He frowns, then he gestures to a red-haired girl standing beside him.

  Her, too, he mouths.

  WTF. My brother suddenly has a girlfriend he wants to save? When did he get a girlfriend? But before I can react, Mom and Dad begin weaving through the crowd, passing out samples.

  Twenty or thirty years ago, my parents would have been called pushers. They’d have been arrested and put in jail while Gabe and I would have gone into foster homes.

  Instead, today, Mom and Dad are the stars of our neighborhood, the hosts of monthly pharm parties where they dole out samples of the latest legal drugs. Marijuana is always a free giveaway at the door, and I already have my sample joint stuffed in my jacket pocket. But the VIP of tonight’s party is the sweetheart of the century, the new release everyone has been waiting three years for: Syn-Op.

  My mom’s walking a few steps ahead of Dad through the crowd, spinning her sales pitch as she hands out free samples.

  “This synthetic opioid guarantees to deliver all the traditional morphine-like benefits with none of the downsides,” she says with a wide grin, her lips painted bright red. “Nonaddictive. No side effects. This is what’s gonna get us through the rest of this Depression with a smile on our faces.”

  A soft laugh spills out as she places a tiny blue pill into each outstretched palm. Dad follows behind her, handing out marijuana samples.

  The smells of marijuana, incense, and cheap cologne mingle, then waft my way.

  This is the real reason why my parents staged this party, not to celebrate the launch of the Valiant. They just need to make more money so they can pay off our latest tax bill. Our taxes have steadily increased, ever since California divided into two states and somehow Orange County ended up right in the middle.

  T-minus ten minutes and counting.

  Fireworks burst from nearby rooftops, gunshots ring out somewhere down the street, and sirens wail in the distance.

  Justin and Natalie push their way through the crowd toward me. I hear whispers of “not another Jenny” and “who invited that thing here?” as Justin walks past people. Justin’s reaction is so subtle most people wouldn’t even notice it, but I can see it. His expression changes, just a fraction, and his muscles tense. Then he sees me, and there’s that smile as bright as the sun.

  I have no idea how he’s able to ignore comments like that. I couldn’t. I’d be smashing faces and breaking bones. In other words, I’d be in prison or juvie, which is where most Genetics end up.

  Even my parents give him dirty looks when they see him.

  The only person in this crowd who acts glad to see Justin is my brother.

  “Hey, Justin’s here!” Gabe says. He latches onto Justin’s arm and pulls him closer, introducing him to the red-haired girl. She looks scared at first, which is only natural if it’s your first time meeting a Genetic, but I can see Gabe going on and on, probably telling her how awesome Justin is. The red-haired girl’s face softens into a timid smile, and she shakes Justin’s hand.

  I don’t know who this girl is, but I like her.

  If she can run—and she looks like she can—then there’s room on our team for one more.

  9

  The crowd thickens and grows as another hundred people pour up the stairs and join the party. Good. There will be plenty of places to hide when the invasion starts. It’ll be scary once the Xua get here and people are possessed, but I just need to make sure we’re gone before our advantage becomes a disadvantage.

  Yes. A crowd is good.

  Except this crowd is getting bigger than I expected.

  I spin around and realize I can’t see Gabe or Justin anymore.

  My mouth is dry, and sudden panic surges through me.

  “Hey, where are you guys?” I say into my skin sites.

  “Here!” Natalie says. And I see a hand stretching above the crowd. It must be Justin. He’s the only one tall enough to reach that high. The crowd shifts and pushes my team about twenty feet away from me.

  “Don’t move; I’ll come to you,” I tell them.

  “We’re all gonna be rich soon,” a woman standing beside me says, stating the common belief of every Valiant shareholder. She lifts a beer bottle to the heavens in a toast, clouds of MJ thick around her. Everyone near me is coughing, laughing, shouting, cheering, so loud I can’t hear what Justin and Billy are saying. I know they’re talking to me; I can feel the rumble of their transmission, vibrating through my jawbone.

  I have to get to them and quick.

  I shove my way through a tangle of overexcited, overmedicated techs, all of them rambling on about the possibilities of cyber-connecting with Titan, of taking the internet beyond global, all the way to universal. Then I’m surrounded by laughter as I push through a group of tatted Blood Lord gang members. One of them, Manny, eyes me hungrily. This guy’s had an unwelcome crush on me since he sat behind me in fourth grade. He might have been attractive once with his easy smile and deep-set black eyes, but that was before he joined the gang and covered his face with blue-black tats. The symmetrical patterns and words curve across his cheekbones, following the thrust of his jaw and circling his eyes.

  He reaches out and grabs my arm. “Hey. Where ya goin’ in such a hurry? You’re not looking for your Jenny, are you?”

  “You know I’m packing,” I tell him, that fear inside me ratcheting up. “Let me go.”

  His hand slides down my arm and rests there a moment too long.

  I pat my jacket pocket with my free hand, raising my eyebrows. My friends and I don’t align ourselves with any of the Santa Ana gangs—not the Sin Nombre de los Muertos, not the First Street Dragons, and definitely not the Blood Lords.

  Manny steps back with a shrug. His buddy Aleksei laughs and then takes another hit of MJ. Smoke swirls around his face, but I can still see the acne sprinkled across his facial tattoos.

  “She ain’t worth the trouble, bro,” Aleksei says with a sneer. “Too skinny.”

  As if I need a reminder that I don’t have much time left, another burst of fireworks blazes across the sky, leaving a message written in sparkling orange: T-minus five minutes.

  And still counting.

  I hurry away from the Blood Lords, trying to ignore Manny’s hot gaze on my back.

  To the west, the sun continues to sink. Already, half the rooftop is in shadow, faces darkening, arms, legs, and torsos merging until the crowd looks like a single entity. Soon the sun will disappear behind a forest of glittering skyscrapers, dusk will loom around us, and we’ll run out of time.

  Where are they? Where’s Gabe? I have to find him before the launch starts.

  Then the crowd parts like the Red Sea, some people are being shoved and some are just moving like they’re terrified. There’s a split second where I’m scared, too, worried that maybe the Xua are here already and I made a horrible mistake, but then I see hi
m, pushing people out of the way. Justin. With one hand, he’s shoving people aside so he can get to me, and with the other hand, he’s pulling Gabe behind him.

  Shoulders wide, jaw gritted shut, eyes narrow, he’s a one-man rescue team.

  He sees the fear in my eyes, and I can tell that for a heartbeat he’s worried I might be afraid of him, but I’ve never been afraid of him. I shake my head and reach for his outstretched hand. He pulls me to his chest, and part of me melts. Sometimes I think the Genetics program went a step too far when they made this boy.

  They were striving for perfection, and I think they got it.

  I fit right into the curve of his chest, his left arm wraps around me, and the heat from his body sets me on fire. I want to stay here forever.

  Right now, all five of us are still alive, and I swear Justin knows I want more from him, so much more than friendship. And he wants it, too.

  “It’s okay,” he says, his voice a deep, soothing rumble that vibrates through my body. “We’re together. We’re all safe.”

  Natalie’s a step behind him, a wide grin on her face, like she knows how I feel right now. She lets out a laugh, and I’m so glad she doesn’t say anything.

  But Billy and Gabe and Gabe’s red-haired girlfriend are beside her, and they don’t look happy at all.

  “What’s the game plan?” Billy demands. “This place is getting crazy, and the launch hasn’t even happened yet. What are we doing after the launch?”

  “How much time do we have?” I ask.

  “Four minutes. No, three,” Natalie says.

  “Okay, everybody stay with me. Bandannas at the beginning of the launch—”

  “What?” the red-haired girl asks. She latches onto Gabe’s hand and looks like she wishes she were anywhere but here. “What’s going on?”

  “Do you have a Valiant bandanna?” I ask.

  She nods. We all got one at school today.

  “Wear it around your face like this.” I do a quick demonstration. “Time?”

  “Two minutes,” Natalie says.

  “This is what we’re doing. First, bandannas. Second, stay with me, no matter what. We’ll head toward the fire escape before the Valiant leaves orbit and then—”

  Billy frowns. “Where’s the frigging fire escape?”

  I swallow, my mouth dry, and then more fireworks burst overhead, a dazzling display of violet and orange words written in the sky, but I don’t have time to read them.

  “To my left. And stay focused!” I say. “When I give the signal, you guys will start to head down to the alley below. The broadcast is about to begin, so make sure you stand where you can see me give the signal. You might not be able to hear me over the—”

  Just then, we all get the news flash. Gov-Net sings through my skin sites, pictures jolt through my brain, and a government-approved newscaster begins to speak. Gabe turns his attention away from me, but fortunately Justin still has one hand clenched around my brother’s wrist like a steel vise.

  “The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here,” a familiar male voice says. It’s David Perez, one of the top newscasters. All sixty million of his subscribers on Insta-News rely on him to tell us what’s going on in the world, and with his popularity, he’s Gov-Net’s favorite choice to narrate their broadcasts. “The Valiant’s just about ready to launch.”

  A pause follows, then we see David waving at the camera, all of us immersed in the holo-mind images Gov-Net projects directly into our heads, whether we want them to or not. Layered on top of those, we see David with his curly black hair, chiseled cheekbones, and neatly trimmed, signature beard so perfect it looks like it’s painted on. “Okay, all the ship’s five main engines are online, ready for ignition—this is exciting, isn’t it?”

  I cringe as the broadcast continues, and I start pushing my way toward the fire escape. The others follow me, all of us holding hands, Justin snarling a warning at anyone who gets in our way.

  “The Valiant computers are now in control of the countdown,” David continues. “What’s that? Oh, the firing chain is armed and the sound suppression water system has been activated—”

  An image of the rocket superimposes on top of David Perez’s grin, and the countdown begins.

  The event that no one can change is about to take place.

  “T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four—”

  There’s an explosion of sound and fire; thick clouds blast across the platform, and behind it, we all see a panoramic view of the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

  “Three, two, one, zero—”

  Dark clouds envelop the rocket, fiery flames at the base. A collective gasp from the crowd sounds around me, and it seems like the last second stretches into infinity. Then, finally, a column of red-gold flame pushes the spacecraft up and up and up; thick, dark clouds grow, billowing until they rival the clouds in the sky; thundering, deafening, the craft shoots up farther, slicing through darkening skies, a radiant plume of fire broadening at its base.

  My skin tingles and turns numb. The countdown is over. There’s no turning back.

  We’re on a collision course with destiny.

  Our destruction awaits us.

  10

  Onward and upward, the Valiant shoots until it’s out of sight. David Perez continues to talk about how this is the dream that has united our country, despite the Depression and our overwhelming international debts, how this will replenish that which has been lost, how it will give everyone a new hope and a brilliant new future.

  Gabe stands at my side, staring upward. “Wow,” he murmurs.

  We’ve made it to the edge of the roof. Natalie has one hand resting on the fire escape. Everyone on my team, all except Gabe, has their gaze fixed upon me, waiting for my signal to run.

  It’s at moments like this that I wonder why Aerithin chose me to help him stop the alien invasion. What made him think I could save the world?

  The cameras inside the spaceship switch on, and we all see the view from the craft—earth below, a swirling ball of green and blue, covered with wisps of white.

  This is when I realize how truly insignificant I am.

  Meanwhile, our planet continues to grow smaller and smaller, until it dwindles to the size of a basketball. Then the moon appears on the right, crater-dappled and covered with a network of experimental domed cities.

  The image fades, superimposed with the words: It’s not too late to invest. Valiant stock just shot up 40 percent, but you can still take part in the future. Call now: a live operator is standing by, ready to make you the deal of a lifetime.

  My heart thumps a rapid beat in my chest. I raise my right hand, ready to give the signal to run, and force myself to wait. It’s coming; I can feel it. Our planet is about to be invaded for what I fear is the last time—

  The universe shifts. I can tell because I get an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach, and it’s like the floor drops away beneath me, tilting at a sharp angle. Other people always think it’s an earth tremor. We get enough of those in Southern California.

  They’re wrong. It’s no tremor.

  Somebody—or a lot of somebodies—is traveling through time.

  All around me, people let out cheers, as if a potential earthquake is an extra party favor.

  I struggle to breathe. My pulse races so fast it sounds like a war drum. Gabe stares at me, his mouth hanging open, his dark eyes telling me that he no longer thinks any part of this is cool.

  Just to the left of us, the air shimmers. Most people would think it’s just heat rising off the rooftop, but I know better. A nanosecond later, a series of mirrors appears from nowhere, spinning and reflecting. They disappear almost as quickly as they appear, before most people can see them.

  Natalie notices them, though. She looks around, then pulls out her laser switchblade and powers it up
.

  “They’re here,” Justin says, his feet braced. He’s ready to fight.

  About ten feet away from us, the air ripples, outlining a humanoid-looking creature. Slightly taller and more slender than the rest of us, it glitters like it’s made out of starlight.

  A Jumper.

  Right on time.

  “Put on your bandannas!” I shout. “Quick!”

  Because it isn’t just one Jumper. The whole rooftop begins to glow as one after another after another of these monsters appears. They’ll be turning to smoke and possessing people soon. At that point, we won’t know who to fight.

  “Run!” I yell. “They’re here! Get on the fire escape!” I give the signal and then grab my switchblade from my pocket.

  Gabe and Natalie and Billy are already hopping over the perimeter wall, landing on the fire escape with a dull metallic thud and scrambling down the steps. Gabe’s girlfriend is next, but Justin waits for me.

  “Get out of here!” I yell as I pull my bandanna up.

  He shakes his head. “Not without you.”

  I rush toward the fire escape. If I timed this wrong, we’ll never make it down. A hundred other people will be trying to get down at the same time. And some of them will have Xua inside them. They could push us off the stairs to the alley fourteen stories below; they could kill my brother before he even makes it to the street—

  Justin stares at me. For a second, one of my neighbors gets between us, but before I can slow my pace, Justin grabs the guy and pushes him away.

  “Down the ladder now,” he says to me.

  “You were supposed to stay with Gabe!” I shout as I pass him. I hop the perimeter wall and jump down to the first landing, but I’m mad. “If anything happens to him—”

  “Good, you’re mad. That’s better than scared.” He leaps off the roof behind me, making the same move I did, skipping the ladder and falling to the fire escape landing. Together, we both start running down the stairs, as fast as we can, sometimes skipping over two or three steps at a time. Back up on the roof, people are already screaming, and even though my plan was always to leave as soon as the Valiant was out of orbit and the Xua arrived, I regret that decision.