“We’re going to steal his ship right out from under him. We’re going to rescue you.” I say these things out loud, steel in my voice, knowing that Ella can hear me.
I’m sorry. That won’t happen, Ella says telepathically. I can tell by the way her eyes well up with tears that Marina can hear her, too. Sarah covers her mouth and swallows hard, looking at me questioningly.
“Bullshit,” I say.
“Don’t you dare give up hope,” Marina practically yells into the empty space in front of her. “Ella? Do you hear me?”
Ella doesn’t respond. I can still feel her there, almost like a tickle in the back of my mind. I know she’s listening in. She just isn’t answering us anymore.
“I don’t care what she says or how many Mogs we have to go through,” I say, addressing Marina now. “If we do one thing today, we’re getting Ella away from Setrákus Ra. Get hold of her and get her back to Lexa’s ship.”
“Agreed,” Marina says.
“Maybe that’ll work,” Sarah adds, that look of shock gone from her face, replaced by a thoughtful look. Like Marina and me, she isn’t backing down from the threat of death. “I mean, wasn’t there something with your guys’ old Loric charm that broke it when you got together?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “So?”
“So, maybe Setrákus Ra’s messed-up version works in the opposite way,” Sarah explains. “Maybe that’s why he’s been taking Ella with him everywhere he goes. He’s got to keep her close for it to work.”
“Makes sense to me,” Mark says, shrugging. “Not that I’m, like, an authority on this shit.”
It’s definitely a possibility worth testing out, especially since we planned to rescue Ella anyway.
I turn to Adam. The plan was for the two of us to go invisible and board the Anubis while the others provided the distraction. “What do you think? Go for the warship or go for Ella?”
“Your call,” he replies.
“You might have to get right under his nose to get to Ella,” Sarah says.
“Which means he could turn off your invisibility,” Marina adds.
“Shit,” I say, mind racing. “All right. Maybe we can get them separated when we spring our traps. If we see an opportunity, let’s go for Ella. Otherwise, we stick to the plan and take the Anubis.” I point south. “There’s some old stonework that way. If you head south from there, that’s where Lexa hid our ship. If things get bad out here, if the Mogs figure out your position, I want you three to make a break for it.”
“And leave you behind?” Marina asks.
“We’ll be invisible, at least,” I reply, looking between her and Sarah. “Just stay alive. That’s what’s important now.”
Sarah nods grimly and Marina turns away, looking towards the Sanctuary. Even after Ella’s warning, I doubt she has any intention of retreating.
Before I can say anything else, Adam grabs my arm and points towards the landing strip.
“Damn it! Six, we forgot about our friend.”
I look to where Adam points and see Phiri Dun-Ra squirming wildly against her bonds. In our rush to get into position, I completely forgot about our Mogadorian prisoner. Even though she’s hooded, Phiri Dun-Ra must have heard the commotion and knows we’re distracted. She’s going nuts on her restraints, doing anything she can to get loose. We tied her to that wheel strut pretty tightly, so I don’t think she’s going to break free. All the same, it’s probably not a good idea to leave her out there when the Anubis shows up.
“Setrákus Ra will know something’s up if he sees her,” Adam says, reading my mind.
Mark lifts up his blaster and looks down the sights, the barrel aimed in Phiri Dun-Ra’s direction. “Want me to take her out? I think I can make the shot.”
Marina puts a hand on his blaster and makes him lower it. “If we wanted to execute her, Mark, don’t you think we would’ve done it already?”
Adam gives me a look, like maybe it’s not a bad idea to finally put Phiri Dun-Ra out of our misery. He’s wanted to kill her all day, though. And I can understand why.
“Should’ve stuck her in the pit,” Sarah says regretfully.
“We have to get her out of sight,” I say.
I reach out with my telekinesis and undo Phiri Dun-Ra’s bonds. It takes me a few seconds—like Marina firing off the hidden blasters, such a precise task is not easy to accomplish at this distance. Phiri Dun-Ra must think she’s done this on her own. She rips off her hood and gag, then springs to her feet, stumbling, surprised to have the ropes suddenly give way. The trueborn rubs her wrists for a moment, looks around and then takes off running towards the jungle opposite of us. She’s headed right towards where we’ve hidden some of the Mog blasters.
“Six?” Marina asks, a note of warning in her voice. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
I do. Before Phiri Dun-Ra can make it far, I use the ropes we’d tied her up with to telekinetically lasso her feet. She falls forward hard, pretty much landing on her face. Then, I drag her towards us, dust and dirt scrabbled up as she claws at the ground and tries to escape. Her frustrated screams are loud enough to scare up some birds from the nearby trees.
“We need to shut her up,” Adam says.
“Marina, reel her in,” I reply.
As Marina takes over the telekinesis, I focus on the clouds rolling in on the evening sky. I don’t want to create a full-fledged storm—not with the Anubis and Setrákus Ra so close. Luckily, I don’t need one. There’s a dark cloud up there with just enough charge to generate a small lightning bolt. I send this arcing down into Phiri Dun-Ra, zapping her good. I guess there’s a chance this could kill her, but I don’t really have time to worry about that. The Mog spasms as the electricity shoots through her, then stops struggling against Marina’s telekinesis. She doesn’t disintegrate, so I guess she’s still alive.
When Marina’s dragged Phiri Dun-Ra over to the tree line, Adam grabs her under the arms and pulls her the rest of the way. He shoves her behind the log we’re hiding behind and begins retying her wrists and ankles.
“So, you guys are taking prisoners now?” Mark asks.
“She might come in handy,” I reply, shrugging.
“We can’t keep dragging her around,” Adam says as he finishes tightening the knots.
“We’ll leave her here. She mentioned loving the jungle, right?” I say, with a smile on my face. We’ve got bigger things to worry about than the fate of Phiri Dun-Ra.
“Let’s not jinx our chance at survival by making lots of plans,” Mark says.
Before anyone can reply, the jungle around us gets strangely quiet. I’d gotten so used to the incessant squawking of tropical birds that it’s absolutely jarring when it’s gone. Even the bug noises taper off. Across the clearing that the Mogs made around the Sanctuary, to the north, a whole flock of birds flies out from the trees and scatters.
The Anubis is here.
I hold out my hands and arms. “Grab on,” I tell everyone. “I’ll keep us all invisible until we’re ready to attack.”
Marina takes one of my hands and Sarah takes the other. Mark, detonator at the ready, gets hold of my shoulder. Adam is last. He gives me a nod, probably remembering when I told him how strange it was to hold hands with a Mogadorian. Until this is over, the two of us will be attached at the hip. I nod back, over it, and he squeezes in next to Marina, his hand on my upper arm. Only Bernie Kosar doesn’t get close to me. Instead, our Chimæra transforms into a toucan and flies into a nearby tree.
It’s sort of funny, the five of us crowded together like this. It almost looks like we’re posing for a picture.
I turn us invisible just as the Anubis glides into view. The warship is bigger than I even imagined. The whole ship is made from overlapping panels of a metallic gray alloy that almost look like scales. It’s shaped like one of those Egyptian bugs—a scarab—except with a whole ton of guns, the massive cannon jutting off the front of its hull particularly catching my eye.
“God,”
Sarah whispers.
“Holy shit,” Mark says, a little louder. His hand tightens on my shoulder. As the Anubis lumbers closer, the entire clearing and the Sanctuary itself are stuck in its shadow.
“Easy now,” I say, trying to keep from freaking out myself. “Stay still and stay close. They can’t see us.”
The enormous ship comes to a stop so that it’s hovering above the Mog encampment. Even considering the large swath of jungle the Mogs cleared, the warship is so big that it won’t have room to land.
Adam must realize that the Anubis hovering above the battlefield kind of screws up our plans. “We’re going to need to find a way up there.”
“If he lands any ground troops, we can pick them off and fly their own Skimmers back up there,” I reply. It’s exactly the tactic John and the absent U.S. military want to employ against the Mog warships, so who better than us to be the guinea pigs.
“What’s he doing?” Sarah wonders. “What are they waiting for?”
Ella stopped telepathically broadcasting to us a few minutes ago, and now I’m wondering if it’s just my imagination that I can still feel her presence lingering in the back of my mind. If she’s still there, though, if she can hear me, we could definitely use the help.
“Ella?” I ask, feeling stupid saying her name out loud like this. “Can you hear me? What’s going on up there?”
There’s no response.
“Marina? Sarah? Is she . . . ?”
“Nothing, Six,” Sarah answers, one disembodied voice talking about another.
“I think she’s gone,” Marina adds.
But then it happens. A whisper in the back of my mind. Ella’s voice, forlorn and hopeless.
You should’ve run.
In the air above us, a humming sound begins to emanate from the Anubis. It’s noticeable because of how amazingly silent the warship is otherwise. It starts low but builds up quickly. Pretty soon, my teeth are vibrating because of it. I scan the underbelly of the warship, expecting to see Setrákus Ra’s soldiers descending in Skimmers, but the skies are clear.
“What the hell is that?” I ask, hoping Adam will answer.
“It’s . . . it’s powering up,” Adam replies. His voice is shaky and I feel his hand get looser on my arm, like he’s stunned and forgetting that he needs to hold on to me to remain invisible.
“Powering up what?” I ask.
“The main weapon,” he answers. “The cannon.”
I can see it. The dark hollow of the cannon’s barrel begins to glow as energy coalesces there. The humming gets louder as the cannon fills with pure energy, like a Mogadorian blaster overcharging. In seconds, the Sanctuary and the jungle around it are all bathed in the azure light. I want to shield my eyes, but Marina and Sarah are gripping my hands tight.
“This is bad,” Mark says. “Really bad.”
“Adam?” I shout to be heard over the charging weapon. “How powerful is that thing?”
As a group, we all shuffle backwards. I’m barely able to keep track of everyone and maintain our invisibility.
“We need to move,” Adam replies, the awe gone from his voice, replaced by terror. “We need to get back!”
Everyone’s already backing up, leaving only Phiri Dun-Ra hidden behind the overturned log. Marina tugs against my grip. She’s not moving.
“Marina!” I yell. “Come on!”
“We said we wouldn’t run!” she shouts back.
“But—!”
The hum reaches a crescendo and the energy built up in the warship’s cannon discharges with a deafening shriek. A solid arc of electricity the size of ten thousand lightning bolts shears directly into the Sanctuary and slices right through it, the ancient limestone glowing red-hot. The cannon’s blast cuts through the temple, top to bottom, like it was nothing. I have only a moment to consider the Sanctuary, still standing but cut down the middle. I can see light through the cracks in the once-solid wall.
A second later, the condensed energy from the cannon expands outwards in a bright surge of light.
The Sanctuary explodes.
“NO!” Marina screams.
We screwed up. Setrákus Ra didn’t come here to claim the Sanctuary. He came here to destroy it.
I don’t have time to think about what that means or what happens next. Adam yanks me backwards and we go staggering into the jungle, just as chunks of the temple begin to rain down around us. I lose my grip on Marina and she pops back into visibility. Mark’s hand falls off my shoulder and he reappears as well. Only Sarah and Adam keep holding on to me.
Marina actually goes running forward, like she’s going to be able to fight against that warship.
“Stop!” I yell. “Marina! Stop!”
Mark reacts quickly, his football reflexes coming naturally. He lunges towards her, wraps his arms around Marina’s waist and tackles her.
“Get off me!” Marina screams at Mark. She shoves him away, icy handprints forming on his chest.
Then, something else explodes. One of the Skimmers we wired with C-4. It must’ve taken a direct hit from a piece of the Sanctuary and triggered the bomb. Shrapnel whizzes by all around us, sizzling-hot pieces of bent metal tearing through the leaves of the trees.
Mark sucks in a breath and topples over. There’s a jagged piece of thick cockpit glass jutting out of his chest.
“Mark!” Sarah screams, wrestling free from me and running towards him.
Marina sees Mark’s injury and gasps. She turns her back on the Sanctuary and falls to her knees beside him, yanking out the glass and immediately starting to heal him.
Branches break above my head and I look up in time to see a basketball-sized chunk of limestone hurtling towards me. On reflex, I use my telekinesis and catch it in midair, tossing it aside.
I don’t catch the next one.
It hits me on top of the head. Before I even realize what’s happened, there’s something sticky and warm coating the side of my face. Adam grabs me under the arms as I fall to my knees. We’re both visible now. Must have lost my concentration. I try to get my legs under me, to refocus on my invisibility, but I can’t do either. My head swims and I have to blink blood out of my eyes.
“Help!” Adam yells to Marina. “Six is hurt!”
I try to hold on to consciousness, but it’s hard. The world is going black, even as everything we’ve fought for goes up in flames. Ella warned us there would be death. Feeling almost detached from my body, I wonder if this is it.
As I slip away, I hear Ella’s voice in my head.
I’m sorry, she says.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT.
Five wants to meet me at sunset at the Statue of Liberty. It sounds like the plan of some supervillain. He’s holding Nine hostage and plans to kill him if I don’t show up. I don’t know what he wants from me. At the United Nations, it seemed like he was trying to help us in his own psychotic way. At the very least, he stopped me from unintentionally hurting Ella. Of course, he can’t possibly know that I’m on the clock here, that every minute wasted on his screwed-up games is a minute not spent helping Sarah, Six and the others. If he did know, would he even care?
I sent Sarah and Mark to Mexico with the newly discovered Loric hacker-turned-pilot who I’m dying to meet. I sent them there because they’re literally the only support I could drum up for Six and the rest of the Garde who are in for a major fight.
At least they can escape now. They aren’t stranded. Six and Sarah are smart enough to cut their losses and get out of there. This is what I keep telling myself.
I do a quick mental calculation. Even if Agent Walker could somehow convince the military to loan me one of their fastest fighter jets, I still won’t be able to make it to Mexico ahead of Setrákus Ra. Not at this point.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.
“Can you at least get me a boat?” I ask Walker. Having left the chaos of the docks behind, we’re back in the FBI agent’
s tent.
“To take you to the Statue of Liberty?” Walker nods. “Yeah, I can arrange that.”
“Right now, though,” I reply. “I want it right now.”
“Five said sunset. That’s still almost an hour away,” Sam adds grimly. I know he’s been doing the same mental calculations that I have. He knows we won’t make it to the Sanctuary. Not unless we leave Nine to whatever fate Five has in store for him, and neither one of us is willing to go down that road.
“I’m not waiting. We aren’t on Five’s time. He’s probably sitting there right now, setting up a trap or something. Whatever the hell he does. We’re going early. If he’s not there, then we’ll be waiting for the bastard.”
“Good idea,” Sam says, nodding. “Let’s do it.”
“Make it happen,” I tell Walker, and step outside her tent.
From here, in Brooklyn Bridge Park, we can see Liberty Island. The green outline of the famous statue is visible against the smoky sky. It won’t take us long to get there. From this distance, I can’t discern any details. If Five is there or if he’s set up some kind of trap for us, I can’t tell. It doesn’t really matter. Whatever we find, we’re going to face head-on.
Sam follows me outside. “What’re we going to do?” he asks me. “I mean, with Five.”
“Whatever we have to,” I reply.
He falls silent and crosses his arms, also gazing out across the water at the statue.
“You know, I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty,” is all he can think to say.
Inside the tent, I can hear Walker doing a lot of yelling into her walkie-talkie. Eventually, she succeeds in commandeering us one of the coast guard’s speedboats. It doesn’t have the artillery of one of the navy boats I spotted in the harbor, but it’ll get us to Liberty Island in a hurry. Walker also puts the call out to her trusted agents, assembling a crew of three guys who I recognize from the anti-MogPro task force that helped us go after the secretary of defense. I guess they’re the ones who survived the battle with Setrákus Ra at the United Nations. One of them is the guy I healed during that first skirmish in Midtown, the one who costars in the video Sarah posted all over the internet. He looks almost embarrassed when he shakes my hand.