A line of bullets rains down from the sky behind us, puncturing the dry grass in front of the oncoming soldiers. Even though the guys are protected by bulletproof everything, they stop in their tracks and gaze up over our heads.
I spin around and cock my head to the sky. The underbelly of a second ship rushes over the barn, kicking up a fierce wind that nearly sweeps me to the ground. It’s tinier than the government cruiser, but majorly ticked off.
Spinning to the side, it plunges to the ground-landing mere feet from the cruiser.
“It’s an Academy transport!” Avery flattens against the side of the moving van. “Jesse, we can’t stay here.”
“Government and Skyshippers?” Bobby marvels from the edge of the junkyard, peering out from the center of a busted window frame. Then he turns to me and notices the Pearl in my hands. “Man, how did you do that?”
I watch as the side doorway’s pulled open from the Academy ship’s silver exterior. Unlike the dumpy shuttle Avery and I piloted into a building yesterday, this one’s a sleek, needle-shaped agent’s transport-more than a match for the cruiser.
The soldiers stop in their tracks, dumbfounded as they stare at me. With all the distractions, I hoped they wouldn’t notice my Pearl-catching trick, but it’s too late.
The energy from the Pearl intensifies in my hands, getting warmer by the second. Coupled with the triple-digit weather out here, it’s all I can do not to drop it to the ground.
Captain Alkine bounds out from inside the agent’s ship, landing hard on the grass. He wears a dark bulletproof jumpsuit underneath his long gray jacket-crazy-hot gear for the Fringes. I do a double take as I watch him step forward.
He notices me immediately, probably because I’m staring at him, mouth agape, holding a freaking Pearl. It’s not hard to miss. Our eyes meet for a second and I instantly pull away, pretending I didn’t see him.
“In the van, Jesse,” Avery coaxes beside me.
The soldiers split into two groups, one headed for Alkine and the other breaking off toward us. Alkine leaps into the fray, taking on three of the nearest soldiers with nothing but his fists. A roundhouse kick catches them off guard, followed by a series of lightning-fast blows that send all three slumping to the ground. Despite myself, I stand in awe, watching.
Half a dozen agents jump out into the field behind him. Right in the center are two slightly smaller ones. I squint in the harsh sunlight to see them. Skandar and Eva, each wearing dark bodysuits just like Alkine.
They run through the chaos, separating from the others and heading for the van. Ahead of them rush four government soldiers, closing in on us.
Avery jumps into the back of the trailer, stretching her hand out to grab mine. Instead of grabbing hold, I turn and toss the Pearl to her. I could’ve exploded it and been done with everything, but I can’t risk hurting my friends. Even Eva.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Avery rolls it from hand to hand, cautious of the growing heat.
A second Academy shuttle bursts into the sky above us, firing down at the oncoming soldiers. Half of them stagger backward and fall to the ground, hit by raptor bullets too powerful for their government battle suits. The two remaining soldiers duck out of the way and renew their frantic pace. Eva and Skandar take a longer route, circling around the battlefield to avoid the flurry of bullets.
“Bobby!” I turn to face the kid, still huddled in the safety of the junkyard. “Toss me something, now!”
He nods, prying a long metal beam from the pile behind him and throwing it to me. I catch it at the middle and wobble to the side, knocked off balance. It’s hotter than the Pearl, and much heavier.
I reach down with my other hand, stabilizing the beam and wielding it like a baseball bat. The soldiers don’t seem to notice or care. It’s just like August Bergmann back at Lookout Park. Let them underestimate me.
They converge on the back of the van, going for the Pearl rather than me. Muscles straining, I pivot sideways and swing the beam at them, letting gravity pull it forward until it connects with the backs of their knees. I hear the loud crack of bones. They tumble over backward, long enough for Avery to jump down and yank the gun away from the nearest guy. The other one loses grip of his rifle. It flies out into the dust. Avery cocks her weapon and points it straight at the two of them, Pearl tucked under her arm. “Back up. Now.”
Eva and Skandar sprint up beside me. Eva holds her arms out like she’s gonna give me a hug, but I dart out of the way before she gets close enough.
“Jesse,” she pants, “we’ve gotta get out of here.”
“Duh,” I reply. “That’s what I’m doing. You? I’m not so sure.”
She frowns, face shiny with sweat. “What are you talking about?”
I cross my arms. “No traitors onboard.”
An explosion sends a puff of dust rising into the air several yards away. Skandar grabs my arm and pulls me up to the trailer. “Get over it, mate. We’re here to help.”
Avery shoots me a questioning look, keeping the rifle pointed at the injured soldiers. There’s no time to argue. We dive inside. I spin around to take one last look at Alkine. There’s a whole squadron of Skyship agents around him now. Shadows fall over the field as more government cruisers converge in the air. Reinforcements.
Eva begins pulling down the back door. Before she can shut it completely I grab the rifle from Avery, lean outside, and toss it to Bobby. He catches it awkwardly, a scared, wild look in his eyes. I mouth the words “I’m sorry.” They wouldn’t be enough even if he could hear them above the rising din of battle.
Without waiting for a response, I yank down the rest of the door and secure it. Avery rushes to the front of the trailer and bangs on the wall. The engine rumbles to life and the van backs up and turns dramatically.
All four of us crash into the side wall, flung around like unsecured cargo. I land backward on my arm, twisting it. The Pearl rolls around, hitting wall after wall, leaving small dents in the metal. The inside of the trailer glows a soft green, humming with Pearl energy.
George guns it. Without a chance to grab onto anything, we’re thrown against the back door, settling in a misshapen heap. Gunshots and explosions echo all around us-some near, some far. Several shots rebound off the corner of the van as we speed away. We jostle up and down through bumpy, uneven grass. I dig my fingers into the metal floor, but there’s nothing to grab onto.
After a minute of stomach-churning mayhem, we roll onto steadier ground. Pavement, hopefully. The explosions fade behind us, replaced by the continuous grumbling of the old van.
Eva scoots forward and hugs me. I can’t get away this time. “Fisher, you’re alive.”
I struggle free and push her away.
She lands in the corner, rubbing the back of her head. “Jesse?”
I grab the Pearl from beside me, clutching it in my arms. “Why is Alkine here?”
She purses her lips. “He just-”
“And don’t lie,” I interrupt her. “I know everything. How did he find me?”
She moves forward slowly, crawling along the width of the trailer. I let her approach, cautious.
“Don’t move,” she whispers, then reaches up to the top button on my shirt and yanks it off, holding it in front of her face. “Microchip tracer. It went offline for a couple of hours last night, but it’s working now.”
I stare at the insignificant button. Tracked, all this time. “Disable it.”
She nods, twisting the button until it comes apart in two pieces. Inside is a thin round chip. She removes it and snaps it in half. “I was only doing what they asked.”
“Yeah.” I glance over at Avery. “Seems like a lot of that going around.”
Eva sighs. “I’m sorry, Jesse. Skandar and I begged Alkine to let us come down with the battalion. I want to help. I told him that we’d have the best chance of convincing you to head back to the Academy-”
“Wait,” I interrupt. “If you-”
“-but I’m not here to convince you of anything,” she continues. “We’re here to have your back. I promise.”
Skandar stares at the Pearl in my arms, laying his finger on top of the swirling energy. “Man, where’d you manage to get one of these?”
“I caught it,” I reply, keeping my attention on Eva. “So what’s Alkine’s plan now?”
“He was hoping to pick you up,” she responds. “I guess the Unified Party had the same idea.” She pauses. “Wait a second, did you just say you caught it?”
I nod.
Her eyes widen. “Alkine was right. There is something different about you. Back at Lookout Park… that was you, wasn’t it?”
Before I can answer, Avery swears, cradling her forehead.
Skandar glances at me. “What’s wrong with her?”
I lay my hand on her shoulder. “Headache again?”
Avery nods, speaking through clenched teeth. “They’re getting worse.”
Eva frowns. “Why is she down here, anyway?”
I rub Avery’s back. “She knows what’s going on,” I mutter, “from Madame’s side.”
“From Madame’s side?” Realization dawns on Eva’s face. “Wait, she’s a spy, isn’t she? I always thought there was something going on there. Flunked out of the program, yet you know how to hack into our com-pads.”
“She’s not a spy,” I lie. “She’s my friend, Eva. Drop it.”
Avery runs her hand through her hair, managing the pain. “I work for Jesse,” she whispers. “No one else.”
Eva nods. “Then I guess we have something in common.”
Skandar elbows my side, grinning like this is all some fun little game and I’ve just won them both as prizes.
Eva sighs. “How did you find out about Alkine, Fisher?”
“Air vent,” I say. “Your little closed-door meeting wasn’t as secret as you thought.”
“Then you saw how much it was killing me to do it, to follow you around like I was your mother. I swear I didn’t know anything. Alkine asked me to protect you. I thought it was some sort of mentor thing.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Well, I don’t need your protection.”
She nods. “We’re going to Seattle, I assume.”
Avery takes a deep breath. “What’s left of it.”
“Alkine will follow us,” Eva starts, “with or without the tracer. Watching your path so far, he realizes what’s happened. He knows that you know. He’ll try to stop you from doing something stupid.”
Avery scoots closer to me. “With those cruisers dropping out of the sky one after another, he might not have a chance.”
“He’ll get there,” I say. “It’s just a matter of who gets there first. We’ll need to-”
A voice interrupts me, words I’ve never heard before, swirling around my head. Whispers. I close my eyes and try to focus on the sound. There’s no one else in the trailer. A string of nonsense echoes around me.
“We’ll need to what?” Eva asks. “Jesse, are you all right?”
I set the Pearl on the ground between my knees. The whispers stop. Everything’s quiet. I open my eyes. Everyone’s staring at me.
I glance around the trailer, then place my hand on top of the Pearl once more. Whispers again. Nothing but cryptic babble. I lift my fingers from the surface. Silence. Somehow, the voice came from inside the Pearl. These things just get weirder and weirder.
“I’m fine,” I mutter.
“Oh!” Skandar digs through his pocket, “I almost forgot.” He pulls a chain necklace from inside and drops it into my hand. Attached is a silver key. I run my finger over the curved metal head. It’s the same as the one from my dreams.
Eva clears her throat. “I swiped it from Alkine after the meeting. It’s important, I think. He always talks about it when he’s mentioning Seattle.”
I hold the chain between my fingers, allowing the key to hang above the Pearl, glinting with the reflection of the wavy green light. “Thanks.”
She shrugs. “I told you I was on your side.”
I pull the key up into my fist, clutching it tightly as our van speeds out of the city and toward the mountains. “We were so close to finding answers without the Academy.”
Eva sighs. “The Academy’s not your enemy, Jesse.”
“Yeah,” Skandar says. “Alkine’s worried sick.”
I scoff. “Alkine doesn’t get worried.”
Eva nods, her eyes pleading with me to understand. “I know. And that’s the scary thing.”
I bow my head, getting lost in the Pearl energy, and try to convince myself that everything’s fine. But I can’t ignore the cruisers back in Lenbrg, or Cassius’s grim determination to find me. This isn’t just some fancy scavenger hunt amidst the ruins. There are weapons involved. Armies.
I should be worried. I should be mass worried.