figure breaks through the line of soldiers, stumbling into the intersection.
The smog lifts from his grizzled features and I see Captain Alkine’s concerned face locked onto mine. He walks with a noticeable limp, a dark sack slung over his shoulder.
Despite my anger with him, the sound of his voice instantly raises my spirits. It’s the voice of safety. Reinforcements.
I wait to hear an agent shuttle overhead, or see a battalion of troops come bounding through the line of soldiers to help me. But with each fragile step Alkine takes, my optimism wanes. And then it hits me. This is not the rescue I was hoping for.
It’s Captain Alkine, all right, but he’s completely alone. And worse yet, unarmed.
45
“Jeremiah.” Madame shakes her head and chuckles like she’s staring at some pathetic little kid. “It’s been too long.”
“Not nearly long enough,” he mutters as he staggers over my way.
She watches him approach, smiling. “Got a little limp there, I see. Not as spry as you used to be. Training children for so long must have tempered your fighting spirit.”
He ignores her, his eyes latched on to mine. “Jesse, I’m sorry. I should have told you everything. I never meant to put you in danger.”
Madame rolls her eyes. “It’s too late. You may have underestimated the boy, but I haven’t. Look around you, Jeremiah-250 fully equipped Unified Party soldiers, with more on the way if necessary. I will not let this go.”
He continues to approach me, ignoring her. “You see why we were protecting you now. They want a war, Jesse, but only if you’re on their side. Only if you’ll bring them Pearls.”
“Nonsense,” Madame scoffs. “The Skyship Community is just another terrorist organization masquerading as a gang of peace-loving idealists. They’re every bit as dangerous as the invaders.”
Alkine shakes his head. “You know that’s not true, Jesse. We’re your family. Come with me.”
Madame laughs. “You’re in a funny place to be making demands, Alkine.”
He glances at her, sneering. “You kill me and it’ll be the beginning of the end.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
He limps closer, unafraid of her. “Let the kids go, Jessica. Do what you want with me, but let them go.”
Eva and Skandar squirm in their captors’ grip. Madame’s eyes slit. She raises the control pad and whispers something into a tiny speaker. Before I realize it, three soldiers creep up behind Cassius and me.
Expecting them to attack, I jump away, fists ready to fight.
But they’re not after me. One removes a rifle from his side and points it at my heart. The others lift Avery by the arms and drag her off into the rubble.
“Let her go!” I rush toward them, but the guy with the gun fires a round into the concrete inches in front of me. Another hefts Avery over his shoulder and steps farther back. “Please,” I turn to Madame. “Let her go!”
“She’ll be waiting for you at the Lodge,” Madame replies, turning to the soldiers beside her. “Kill the children.”
I watch in horror as fingers tighten around Eva and Skandar’s necks once more. Both struggle for breath, faces white and panicked.
“Wait!” Alkine shouts. “You’re forgetting something, Madame.”
Madame motions for the soldiers to loosen their grip. I crane my neck to see Avery, but they’ve already taken her away into the mist. The soldier with the rifle holds his position. If I move, he’ll shoot.
Madame strides forward, sizing Alkine up. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Reinforcements,” he mutters.
She chuckles. “Oh by all means, please bring your reinforcements.”
Alkine’s eyes dart up to the sky, to the layer of mist above the city. I follow his gaze, but there’s nothing to see. No shuttles or transports. Just the foggy ceiling.
Madame shakes her head, motioning for her men to raise their weapons. “Take him out.”
I hear the click of artillery. Hundreds of guns lock onto our small group. It’s a shooting gallery, and there’s no way of escaping.
Then the mist begins to swirl above us. A deafening roar, like a thousand freight trains, forces my hands over my ears. The sky darkens. Unnaturally fast. It’s at least an hour until sundown. This is more like an eclipse.
Madame looks above her for the first time, taking two steps back and mumbling to herself.
A jagged point pokes through the layer of churning mist like a knife reaching down to stab the earth. It’s needle-thin at first, but widens as it lowers. Soon it’s as thick as a tree trunk-then a rocket.
Waves of smog spread away from the vast object, revealing a canopy of dark weathered metal that blots out the sky above us-a constantly lowering ceiling to what’s become an intersection enclosed on all four sides. Rocks tumble down the sides of buildings as the behemoth settles down. The engines rumble above us like never-ending thunder.
Alkine smiles. He says something, too, but the thrusters above our heads are too loud to make out words. But I don’t have to hear him to know what’s happening. I’ve approached the hull of this ship enough times to recognize the scuffed underbelly.
Skyship Academy.
I back up, dwarfed by the shadow of the approaching Skyship. The southern spire drills into the ground, kicking up chunks of rock and dirt. I can’t believe it. The Academy… on the Surface. The engineers must have been working overtime to keep it cloaked from Madame’s cruisers.
Madame pulls in her jacket as the wind from the thrusters pummels the pavement. Her perfectly styled hair blows into a mess, sticking to her teeth. “You have no idea how many laws you’re breaking,” she shouts.
Alkine shrugs. “Never did like to play it safe.”
The thunderous engines die down to a low rumble and the bottom level of the Academy opens up. Shuttles shoot from all sides, bursting from around the perimeter like flower petals. Everyone in the intersection ducks. The soldiers lose their grip on Skandar and Eva. I spin around, looking for Avery. She’s long gone. I don’t know where they took her.
The Academy ships bolt out into the city, then loop up in the air and reverse their path, barreling down on the intersection. Explosions rattle the pavement.
Madame gives her troops the attack signal. They spread out, quickly filling the intersection like a hive of dark insects. Some run back to cruisers. Most raise their weapons and fire, aiming for the shuttles that dart underneath the Academy’s expansive hull.
Trapdoors open from below the shuttle. Agents rocket down into the intersection, aided by upturned ankle boosters that slow their descent until they land on the pavement with the grace of acrobats.
While she’s distracted, I lunge at Madame, grabbing the control pad from her hand and chucking it away into the chaos. “Where is she? Where did you take her?”
She slaps my face, pushing away and grabbing a small pistol from her belt. “This is not what I wanted for you.”
“No!” Cassius tackles her from the side, knocking her to the ground. She keeps her grip on the pistol, but the black cube tumbles into the intersection. Cassius dives to retrieve it, then grabs my hand and pulls me away. “Come on.” He drags me through the dense battle zone. Agent versus soldier, more of them every moment. Shots ring out through the intersection. An explosion pummels the ground to our left, sending up a fountain of debris. Shuttles whiz by overhead, dropping detonators on large swaths of government forces.
A soldier bumps into me, pulling my hand from Cassius’s and dragging me back through the crowd. Seconds later, he slumps onto the ground, a bullet through the chest. I turn to see Alkine brandishing a gun in the distance. He tosses his bag to Eva, shouting something. I’m too far away to hear it. Then they’re both swallowed by the crowd.
Another explosion pulverizes the pavement behind me. Soldiers fly into the air. Cracks spread from the ground, snaking toward me. The concrete wobbles, then slants into a diagonal. I jump forward, careful not to be
