The Legacy Chronicles_Up in Smoke

by Pittacus Lore

  “Something isn’t right,” said Six. “What were the noises we heard on the way up here? They sounded like explosions.”

  In answer to her question, the lights that lined the wall beside them flickered on, grew incredibly bright, then shattered, showering the deck with glass while plunging it back into darkness. At the same time, another explosion was heard, and a door at the far end of the ship flew open. Several men ran out, scattering across the deck as smoke billowed out behind them. There was yelling, then the sound of gunfire from inside. Next, a glowing orb came flying out of the doorway. It hit the deck and rolled. The men shouted in Spanish and ran, coming towards Nine, Six and Nemo.

  “Go,” Nine said to Six. “I’ll deal with this and catch up with you. See if you can figure out what’s happening.”

  Six turned and darted away from the chaos, calling for Nemo to come with her. The two of them ran the length of the ship. The lights all along their way had broken, and it was difficult to see anything in the dark. When they came to a door, Six pulled on the handle, but it was stuck fast. She moved on. Behind them, more explosions shook the night.

  They rounded a corner, and Six collided with a boy who was standing there. He went sprawling onto the deck with a shout. A girl standing nearby leaned down and helped him up. The boy faced Six and Nemo and held out his hands. Sparks flew between them.

  “Who are you?” the boy said.

  “You don’t know who she is, Gawain?” said the girl.

  The boy looked more closely at Six. A grin spread across his face. “Oh yeah,” he said. “I do. This is great.” He lifted his hands, and the sparks formed a ball of crackling electricity.

  The girl beside him put her hand on his arm. “No, you idiot,” she said. “They’re here to help.”

  Gawain frowned and looked at the girl. “Help?” he said. “But they’re with—”

  “Sam,” the girl said. “They’re with Sam.” She looked at Six. “Right? You’re here to rescue Sam?”

  “That’s the plan,” Six said. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Parvati,” the girl said. “This is Gawain. You need to come with us.”

  Shouts came from the other direction, and Six turned around. “What’s going on here?” she said.

  “Some of us decided to fight back,” Parvati told her. “Parts of the ship are blocked off. We were hoping help would come. It looks like it did. But we really need to get out of here.”

  “We should wait for Nine,” Nemo said to Six.

  “There’s no time,” Parvati insisted. “If we don’t go now, we might not be able to get back to the others.”

  “Nine will be all right,” Six said to Nemo. “Come on.”

  Parvati and Gawain turned and ran for an open doorway. Six and Nemo followed. They went through and down a flight of stairs to the lower deck.

  “Sam will be so happy to see you,” Parvati said.

  “Is he all right?” Six asked.

  “He’s fine,” Gawain said. “Never better. He’s right up here.”

  Reaching the next level, they walked quickly down a corridor to another door. Parvati pulled it open as Gawain stepped inside. Six and Nemo followed, and Parvati came in behind them, shutting the door.

  They were in a room containing a table covered in what looked like schematics of the ship. Big red Xs appeared at various locations. Several men were standing around the table, talking loudly. Hearing the door shut, they looked up. One of them turned around.

  “Well, well, well,” said Jagger Dennings. “Look who’s here.”

  Six whirled around, reaching for the door, but Gawain sent her flying with a blast of electricity from his hands. Six hit the wall, and the breath was knocked out of her. She sank to her knees.

  “Don’t try to be a hero,” Gawain said to Nemo, who stood still and looked at Six.

  “We found them on top,” Parvati told Dennings. “I told them we were bringing them to Sam.”

  Dennings laughed. “Good thinking.”

  “She says Nine is here, too,” Gawain said.

  Dennings looked at Nemo. “Did you bring anyone else along with you?”

  “There are more coming,” Nemo said. “A lot more.”

  “Thanks for the information,” Dennings said. He turned his attention to Six, who had yet to stand up. “Since you haven’t tried to kill me yet, I’m guessing your Legacies still haven’t come back. Drac may be nuts, but it looks like that black-goo stuff does the trick. Good to know.”

  There was a second door in the room, and Dennings walked towards it. “Bring them along,” he said to the men.

  “What about the traitors?” Parvati asked.

  “We’re working on that,” Dennings replied. “Right now, I have a bigger problem.”

  Two of the men hauled Six to her feet. Another took Nemo by the arm and pulled her roughly towards the door.

  Six resisted the impulse to fight. Even without her Legacies, she knew she could do some damage to the men holding her. But there were too many of them, and eventually they’d subdue her. She was also worried about what they would do to Nemo. If the situation got worse, she would risk it. Besides, Nine was still out there, and he would come. Also, she hoped that maybe they really were taking her to Sam.

  They were not.

  Passing into the next room, she was herded down another flight of steps, this one leading to a large, windowless room that was clearly below water level. It was outfitted as a hospital room and laboratory, with a few operating tables and cabinets filled with instruments. Several long metal tables were covered with all kinds of equipment.

  Storming around the room, yelling at the three other men standing there, was Bray. The men looked anxious. He looked furious.

  “I don’t care if they’re kids!” he shouted. “Blow their goddamn heads off. Better yet, get Scotty down here. He can transport us out of here and then we’ll sink the ship. Let them all drown.”

  “Mr. Bray,” Dennings said.

  “What?” the man bellowed, spinning around.

  When he saw Six standing there, a smile cracked his face. His eyes got big, and he clapped his hands like a little kid seeing the bike he’d asked for under the tree on Christmas morning. He giggled—he actually giggled. Then he ran over and stopped right in front of Six.

  “I knew she would come.” He laughed again. “I knew it!”

  “I didn’t like the idea of you having fun without me,” Six said coolly.

  “Oh, we are having fun,” Bray said. “We’re having so much fun. Aren’t we, Dennings?”

  “Sure, boss. Tons of fun.”

  Six heard worry in his voice. Something was obviously wrong with Bray. Anyone could see that. And whatever it was, it had Dennings scared.

  Bray continued to stare at Six. Suddenly, one eye began to twitch. His face reddened, and his mouth contorted in a grimace. He let out a wail of pain and grabbed his head with his hands.

  “Get him on the table!” Dennings shouted.

  Two of the men rushed towards Bray, but he snarled at them and held out his hands, bent with the palms up. A look of concentration appeared on his face, and he groaned as he tried to push the men away.

  “What’s he doing?” Nemo asked Six.

  “It’s working,” Bray said, looking at the men who cowered in fear a few feet away from him. “It’s working.”

  “He thinks he’s using a Legacy,” Six said.

  “Shut up,” Dennings snapped.

  “He’s crazy,” said Six, ignoring him. “Whatever Drac did to him, it’s getting worse.”

  “I said, shut up!” Dennings yelled.

  Bray looked at them. He pointed a finger at Six. “I need what’s in her head,” he said. “Get Cutter.”

  “Cutter’s trying to round up—”

  “Get him!” Bray screeched.

  Dennings turned to the men holding Six and Nemo. “Get her strapped to a table,” he said, pointing at Six. “And put that one somewhere she can’t get out. We’ll d
eal with her when this is over. Then go find Cutter and tell him to get down here now.”

  The men holding Nemo turned her around and headed back towards the door they had entered through. Nemo struggled. “Let me go!” she said, kicking at them and trying to yank her arms from their grasp. But they were too strong. She turned and looked anxiously at Six. Why wasn’t she doing anything? Nemo didn’t understand.

  The men hauled her out of the room, then down another corridor. Nemo halfheartedly resisted, but she knew she couldn’t overpower them. Still, she wasn’t going to make it easy for them. She swore up a storm and made them drag her.

  One of the men turned and said something to her in Spanish. A second later, his head jerked back and he fell to the floor. The other man glared at Nemo and shouted something.

  “Don’t look at me,” she said. “I didn’t do it.”

  She felt something brush against her. Then the second man fell. A moment later, a boy popped into view. He was holding a heavy wrench, which he now dropped on the floor.

  “Come on,” he said. “We’re getting out of here.”

  “Uh-uh,” Nemo said. “That didn’t work out so well the last time someone said that.”

  “You got a better idea?” the boy asked her.

  “I’m going to help Six,” said Nemo.

  “Not alone you’re not,” the boy said. “We need help. We need Nine.”

  “You know where Nine is?”

  “Who do you think sent me to follow you?”

  Nemo looked at the men knocked out cold on the passageway floor. The boy had rescued her. Still, she was unsure.

  “I’m Walter,” he said. “I’m one of the good guys. Sam is with us. Now can we get out of here before Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber come to? We’ve got more bad-guy ass to kick, and time’s running out.”

  Nemo nodded. “Take me to Nine and Sam.”

  Walter reached out and grabbed her hand. “It’s easier this way,” he said as they both turned invisible.

  Together they returned to the top deck. When they got there, they found themselves in the middle of a war.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SAM

  SOMEWHERE AROUND GUADALUPE ISLAND, MEXICO

  SVETLANA WAS VERY GOOD AT MAKING BOMBS.

  As Sam watched, she reached into the canvas bag slung over her shoulder and pulled out a can of beans. Holding it in her hand, she concentrated on it until it started to glow. Then she tossed it in the direction of the men on deck. It exploded, sending them scattering.

  “Why beans?” Sam asked her.

  “It’s what was in the pantry,” Svetlana said as she powered up another can. “Also, hot beans hurt.”

  The two of them advanced down the deck. Without his Legacies, Sam was most useful as a second pair of eyes. Also, he had taken a gun from one of the men Svetlana’s bombs had put out of commission, and he was ready to use it. The explosions had started several fires, and smoke billowed across the deck. And one of the kids fighting against them had blown out all the lights, which made things more difficult.

  He hoped Seamus and the others were successfully fending off anyone trying to take control below. He had seen no sign of Dennings, which worried him. The man should have been leading the charge against the dissenters. That Dennings wasn’t suggested that he had more important things to do, and that could only be bad news. Whatever was happening with Bray had already thrown the ship’s crew into a state of panic. Sam could only imagine what was going on, and what he imagined worried him.

  And then there was Six. Nine’s appearance on the ship had surprised him. Learning that Six was alive and was there too had given him hope. But she hadn’t appeared yet. Nine had gone to look for her. Sam wished he was the one who had gone, but Nine still had his Legacies and was better equipped to deal with whatever might happen. And so all he could do was wait and hope.

  Someone appeared beside him, startling him.

  “Sorry,” said Ghost. “There’s no way to warn people when I show up.”

  “We should tie a bell on you or something,” Sam suggested. “Like a cat.” He pointed to her arm, which was now bandaged up. “Are you okay?”

  Ghost nodded. “It was just a cut. I’m fine.”

  “What’s happening down there?”

  “The sealed doors are still holding,” Ghost said. “For now. But I don’t know how much longer. They’re trying to burn through them. We’ve got this guy who manipulates hot and cold, and he’s been freezing them out. But he’s getting tired.”

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “Nothing serious.”

  Ghost’s voice was quiet but filled with anger. Sam could tell that she was a changed girl from when he’d briefly met her in New Orleans. In the short time she’d been with Dennings, something had happened. Not only was her ability to control her Legacy improved, her entire demeanor was more aggressive, less hesitant. Even her look had changed. She was wearing jeans, a black T-shirt and black combat-type boots.

  “I didn’t get to ask you before,” Sam said. “Is Edwige here?”

  Ghost shook her head. “They have her somewhere else. I’m not sure where, exactly. They’ve got places all over. They move those with the most important Legacies around. Healers especially.”

  Sam’s stomach sank. Bray’s operation was like Hydra, the mythical beast that grew two heads for every one that was cut off. Who knew how many hideouts he had, how many cabins and training facilities. There could be dozens, each with kids being used for their powers.

  It made him angry all over again, and more determined than ever to find and stop Dennings once and for all.

  “Svetlana!” he called. “Let’s go back downstairs. We can do more good there.”

  Svetlana nodded, and Sam was about to turn and head back to assist Seamus and the others when two people came running towards them through the smoke. Sam raised his weapon, preparing to fire, then recognized them and lowered his gun. “Walter! Nemo!”

  “Sam!” Nemo ran to him and, to his surprise, threw her arms around him. Then she saw who was beside him. “Ghost! You’re okay.”

  She grabbed her friend, who hugged her back but, Sam noticed, didn’t respond as enthusiastically to seeing Nemo. But Nemo hadn’t picked up on it. “They’ve got Six,” she said. “We have to go get her. Do you have your Legacies back?”

  Sam shook his head. “Not yet,” he said.

  “Where’s Nine?” Nemo asked. “Isn’t he with you?”

  “He was,” Sam said. “He went to look for you and Six. You didn’t see him?”

  “No,” Nemo said. “We ran into Dennings. He still has her. That crazy guy from the cabin is there, too. The one who shot Yo-Yo.”

  “Bray,” Sam said. He wondered what had happened to Nine but didn’t say anything.

  “They want to do something to Six,” she continued. “An operation, I think.”

  “We have to get to her,” Sam said. “Now. Take me to her.”

  “I don’t think we can get back that way,” Nemo said. “They’ll have found the guys Walter knocked out. They’re probably coming after us.”

  “I can get you in,” Ghost said.

  Sam looked at her.

  “I’ve gotten better,” Ghost said. “A lot better. I just need to know where they are.”

  “The operating room,” Walter said. “You know where that is.”

  Ghost nodded grimly, as if she was remembering something she would rather not. She reached for Sam’s hand.

  “Wait a second,” he said. “I don’t have my Legacies. We need someone else.”

  “I can only take one,” Ghost said. “I haven’t done more than that without . . . problems.”

  Sam thought quickly. Should he send Svetlana? She would obviously be able to defend herself. But she was also hot tempered and might do something to make things worse. He wished Nine was there. But he wasn’t. Despite not having his Legacies, he knew he was still the best choice. Besides, it was Six. If anyone was going to help her, it was
him.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “But once we’re there, you get Six out. Don’t worry about me. She’s the priority. Got it?”

  Ghost nodded. She reached out her hand again. Sam took it.

  A moment later, he was standing in the small cabin he had been placed in when he first arrived on the ship. He looked at Ghost. “This isn’t the operating room,” he said as the cabin door swung open and Dennings walked in. Instinctively, Sam prepared to fight him, but Dennings spun him around and had his hands cuffed before he could even respond.

  “Ghost!” Sam said. “Get out of here. Find Nine.”

  Dennings laughed. “Yes, Ghost,” he said. “Find Nine. That would save me the trouble of having to track him down.”

  Sam looked at Ghost. Her eyes were hard.

  “You left me,” she said, her voice shaking. “You all left me.”

  “We didn’t leave you,” Sam said. “They took you. You and Edwige.”

  Ghost shook her head. “You could have helped. None of you did.”

  Dennings looked at Sam and grinned triumphantly. “You really did just leave her there,” he said, shaking his head as if he was disappointed.

  “You’re the one who shot her!” exclaimed Sam.

  “Accident,” Dennings said. “Besides, I fixed her up good as new. Better, even. Right, Ghost?”

  She nodded. “Better,” Ghost said. She looked at Sam. “Much better.”

  “What did you do to her?” said Sam.

  Dennings put his hand on Ghost’s shoulder. “Taught her how to use her Legacy,” he said. “When she came here, she could barely teleport herself from one side of a wall to the other. Now, thanks to Scotty and me, she can go from here to the other side of the world, and take you with her. You might even get there in one piece.”

  “I told you, that wasn’t my fault,” Ghost snapped.

  “Relax,” said Dennings. “I’m just teasing.”

  Sam looked at Ghost’s face. Now the changes he’d felt in her made sense. Believing that her friends had left her to die had warped her thinking. And Dennings had obviously encouraged her to believe this was true. Combined with helping her to strengthen her Legacy, it had made Ghost believe she could trust him.