I close my eyes and see the pile of rubble crashing down on Madame. The thought of it makes me sick. “Was she…? I mean, did I…?”
“I didn’t check,” he replies. “I just left.”
I rub my eyes and try to wipe the image from memory. “She’s unconscious, that’s all. People like Madame don’t die.”
He scoffs. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d care.”
I look down at my lap for a moment. It’s not caring, definitely, but I don’t like the thought of killing anybody either. Even Madame. “Look, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Don’t apologize,” Cassius says, and that’s the end of that.
I shift in my seat, wondering if I should just shut up and let him do his thing. He’s not exactly the most approachable person in the world. But I can’t stay quiet. There’s too much I need to know. “So if we’re not going to the Lodge, where are we going?”
He sighs. “Somewhere people can’t find us.”
I groan inwardly. The last thing I want right now is another chase. My body couldn’t handle it. “Running again?”
“You got a problem with that?”
“I-” I catch myself and try to choose my words carefully, unsure what could set him off. “It’s just that… my friends. Avery.”
“She’s gone,” he replies. “They could’ve dragged her to any of the Unified Party’s compounds by now. Finding her would be impossible.” He pauses. “Your friends will be fine.”
I shake my head. “I should have been quicker. I should have stopped them from taking her.”
He frowns, his voice devoid of any expression. “You did what you had to do. You saved yourself. Now take a look at this.” He reaches down and grabs something from beside his seat. Before I can argue, he tosses Madame’s small black cube into my lap.
I catch it, expecting my muscles to strain. They don’t.
The cube’s unnaturally light, like paper or cardboard. I run my fingers across the smooth, cold exterior. It’s solid as stone, and seems like it’s been the same shape since the beginning of time. Not so, if what Madame said is true.
“Open it,” Cassius coaxes.
I glance at him in confusion. But then I remember the silver key around my neck. I lift the chain over my head and feel around the top of the cube for a keyhole.
Cassius reaches over and turns on the lighting panel above my seat. A dim glow falls on a narrow slit in the center of the cube. I grab the key and lower it into the hole.
That’s all I have to do.
Deep lines begin to form on the surface, starting from the center and spreading out on all four sides like a compass rose. It’s like watching an invisible knife cut through the material. Impossibly sharp. Within moments, the top of the cube’s portioned into four equal squares. The lines reach the edges and continue to cut down the sides of the cube. The key crumbles into dust, dissipating into the air. The roof of the cube blossoms out from the center, revealing an opening the size of my fist.
Cassius keeps one eye on the cube the entire time. When all the fanfare’s over, I shift my attention to him. He glances up at me, then back to the crumbled cube in my lap. “Go ahead.”
I nod, then cautiously reach through the hole and pull out a reflective disc the size of my palm. At first it looks like a hand mirror, but as soon as I touch it, an image flickers to life on the shiny surface.
It’s an electronic photo. A man and woman sit together, smiling. I hold it closer and notice two bundles of cloth cradled in their arms. Babies. It’s a mother and father.
Our mother and father.
I can tell instantly. My eyes. Cassius’s chin. Both of us are right there, in our parents’ faces. Mom’s fair hair has a slight curl to it, like mine. The determined look in Dad’s eyes could set the world on fire. Both wear untroubled, cheerful expressions, but beneath their expressions is something else-a slight downward tug in the smiles, a hint of worry in the tensed eyebrows.
Still, the four of us look like any normal, American family. No one’s got antennae or green skin. We aren’t wearing shiny silver jumpsuits or bulbous space bubbles.
I hand the disc to Cassius without a word. He stares at it for a moment, eyes fixed on the picture. “It’s true, then,” he mutters, “what Madame said.”
I nod, but before I can respond the open cube quivers in my lap. Worried, I lift it from my legs, but as soon as it touches my skin it melts like wax. Dark beads slide down the sides. My hand tingles with an iciness as the cube drips into a thick mess.
I crouch on the seat as the dark liquid falls between my fingers, only to lift up again like a yo-yo. The puddle breaks into two. A glob of blackness shoots across the cabin and clings onto Cassius’s wrist. What’s left coils around my arm. Another second and the material hardens into two smooth bracelets-one for each of us.
I claw at the thin band, searching for a break in the material to pry it off. It’s seamless, and too narrow to fit around my hand. For a moment my wrist is overcome by intense cold, but soon the temperature adjusts itself to meet the rest of my body.
I sigh, digging underneath the bracelet. “Well, that’s just great.”
Cassius places the picture-disc on the front console and flexes his arm in front of him, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. “What did you do?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything!”
He glares at me, but then something on the radar screen catches his attention. “We’re being followed.”
I turn in my seat, craning my neck to see behind us out the window. Madame. It’s gotta be Madame.
“It’s coming up fast,” Cassius continues. “It’ll be on us in a-”
Before he can finish his thought, a brilliant green glow overtakes the cruiser. The cabin flashes dramatically as something hurtles overhead. We shake with turbulence, though I hardly notice it. I’m too focused on the green figure soaring through the air ahead of us. Losing altitude. Fast.
I point out the window. “It’s the person I freed in Seattle! Follow him!”
Cassius shoots me a questioning look but brings the cruiser down, speeding up to match the pace of the glowing traveler in front of us. I watch as the figure plunges to the dark Surface, leaving a trail of energy behind like a shooting star.
“Pearls,” Cassius mutters. “I think I liked them better when they weren’t shaped like people.”
The screens on the control deck flicker on and off as we follow the energy trail. The cabin lights power to full capacity until I have to squint to see through the brightness.
“Power overload,” Cassius says. “The cruiser can’t take all this energy. If this keeps up we’ll have to pull off course.”
I look down at the crazy light show in front of me. “Can’t you shut some of this stuff off?”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t turn it on.” He glances at the altimeter. “We’re getting close. Two thousand feet and dropping.”
I keep one eye on the green figure-an oversized firefly shooting through the night. Then in an instant, it disappears. The energy trail fractures into tiny sparks of light around us, evaporating into the air. It’s dark once more. Mass dark.
“Frag it.” Cassius switches on the emergency beams and pulls up on the wheel. I jostle in my seat as a wide rooftop comes into view just below us, spotlighted by our ship. We almost crash right into it, but Cassius stops us just in time.
After a moment floundering in the air, we make a cautious landing in the center of the roof. The surface beneath us bows with the weight of the cruiser. I wait for it to cave in altogether, but it holds. For now.
Cassius shuts off the power-everything but the emergency beams, which shoot across the rooftop in two horizontal pillars.
We’ve set down in the middle of a Fringe Town, and we’re the only light for miles. I hope we’re alone out here.
A man crouches on the rooftop between our beams. Back turned to us, he slumps over the ground, resting on his knees. His outline is utterly still. From what I can see, he looks human.
