through. The swarm is behind us.
But the ground…
Cassius does what he can to pull us up. The underbelly of the cruiser slides into the dirt with an awful scrape. Sparks sizzle like fireworks as we speed along the ground. Too many and we’ll catch on fire. Too many and we’ll explode.
But we begin to slow. The scraping quiets. I don’t know where we are, or what’s outside, but as soon as the cruiser stops moving, I unclick the seatbelt and stand, thankful to be alive.
Cassius bolts from his chair. “We’ve gotta get out. A couple more seconds and the whole thing could go up in flames.”
We rush from the cockpit. Cassius sprints to the back of the cabin and grabs the manual crank.
As the ramp descends and thick Fringe air spills into the ravaged cabin, I notice that Theo’s chair is empty. I turn to see his body slumped at the side of the room, face down along the wall. No movement.
Avery peers around my shoulder. “Is he-”
“I don’t know,” I mutter, too petrified to go and see.
“Help me with this.” Cassius motions Eva to his side. As she takes over the manual crank, he turns and busts open an arms cabinet with his elbow.
Without wasting a moment, he tosses a pistol my way. Avery gets one too. Then Ryel.
When the ramp hits the ground, Cassius gives Eva the last pistol and leads us from the cruiser cabin.
We stumble into the harsh desert landscape. The sun forces my eyes shut. I relax them little by little until it’s comfortable to open them all the way. The distant buzzing of the swarm sounds behind us. I don’t want to turn and see it.
We stay close, glancing overhead for signs of activity. I don’t know where the Academy ships went, but they’re not here now.
Cassius curses. “They’re leaving us to rot out here. Shoot us down so we’ll be easy prey for the vultures.”
Eva takes in the horizon. “Alkine would never do something like that.”
I glance at Ryel. His eyes narrow. “I hear something.”
“The swarm?” I whisper.
“No. It’s coming from around… ” His words fade as he backs toward the wreckage of the cruiser, treading carefully on the dirt. In moments he’s rounded the corner. I tiptoe after, scared to let him out of my sight.
Then I notice them, sitting in the distance. The hazy Fringe atmosphere hides them well. If it wasn’t for the reflection of sunlight on metal, I’d think I was imagining things.
Ships, lined in front of our cruiser in wait. From this distance, I can’t tell if they’re the same ones that shot us down or not. It doesn’t matter. They’re a problem.
I grab Ryel’s shoulder. “Stay close. We don’t know who’s inside.”
Ryel nods. “I don’t think we-”
A bullet whizzes through the air, feet from my shoulder. I flatten against the side of the cruiser. The rush of air silences. I look back at Ryel. His mouth hangs open. His pistol falls to the ground.
He doesn’t finish his sentence.
Instead, I watch in horror as he topples, face forward, into the dirt.
27
“Ryel!” I fall on my knees beside him and grab onto his shoulder.
His legs tremble before falling still. I watch the clench of his fingers loosen in the dirt.
“Ryel.” I shake his shoulder. “Ryel, where did it hit you?”
No answer.
The others join us. I see their shadows before I turn around. They stare down, unable-or unwilling-to speak.
It’s not until I hear the tread of boots that I turn back around. And there they are, seven of them. Agents.
In the middle stands Agent Morse, flanked by three on each side. His disappointed expression is framed by a lightweight battle helmet. I scan the length of his arm until I reach his fist. He’s armed. They all are.
I stand. My voice comes out a choked whisper. “You shot him.”
Morse’s brows narrow. “It was self defense.”
“He wasn’t gonna hurt you.”
Eva pushes forward until she’s at my side. “Please tell me that’s a stunner.”
Morse remains still, his lips a straight, unreadable line.
“He’s not moving,” I continue. “You shot him.”
Morse clips his pistol to a holster on his back. “Listen, buddy. You’ve got no grounds to argue with me right now. Do you know how many regulations you’ve broken?”
“Oh my god.” I stagger back. “You killed him.” I glance from agent to agent, shaking my head. “You all killed him.”
“Jesse,” Morse continues. “You’ve left us with very few options.”
“Did Alkine tell you to do this?”
Morse glances at the nearest agent before answering. “He ordered us to retrieve you. Your transportation has been run to the ground. Mission accomplished.”
I look down at Ryel. I can barely stand to meet Morse’s eyes. “He was the only one who could tell me anything. He knew about Haven. He knew about the Authority!” Morse motions for two of the agents to approach us. “Calm down. We’ll get you back and make sure-”
Cassius bolts in front of me, hand outstretched before him. I watch as sparks dance between his fingers, like a broken transformer ready to burst. “You’re not taking him anywhere.”
Morse steps back. His face remains firm. “You must be the brother. The Pearlhound.”
“Ex,” he says. “Take one step closer and I ignite every one of these sparks.” He clutches his pistol in the other hand.
“Okay.” Morse nods. “We’re gonna turn this into a standstill? This is not in your best interests, Fisher.”
I move to Cassius’s side, pistol raised. Eva and Avery do the same. We’re not much against seven armed agents, but it’s something. They’re not gonna get away with this.
“By any means necessary,” Morse continues. “That’s what the captain said.” He glances over his shoulder at another agent. “Johnson?”
The man jogs backward a few steps before turning and sprinting to the nearest ship.
I squint. His silhouette disappears in the haziness. “What’s he doing?”
Morse taps his foot on the dirt. “You wanna play, Fisher? We’re gonna play.”
“You don’t know-”
“No,” he interrupts. “You don’t know. Smuggling some kind of explosive on board the Academy, staging a jailbreak.” I think back to the red Pearl knocking me from the Academy’s brig. Falling from the open hole. “It wasn’t an explosive.”
“Sneaking into a secret bunker,” Morse continues. “Hijacking a shuttle and leaving it in the middle of a Fringe town.” His eyes widen as he notices my pained expression. “That’s right, buddy. We followed you to Syracuse. We followed you all the way to the swarms. The list keeps getting longer, all the things you’ve done.” He pauses. “I don’t understand it. The Academy is your home. We’ve fed you, taken care of you-”
“You haven’t done anything,” I interrupt.
“Maybe not, but that ship is filled with people that want the best for you. And you’re spitting in our faces. Where’s the trust, Fisher?”
My hand shakes as I keep the pistol forward. “Locking me up in the brig? Refusing to listen to me? Do you know what it feels like to have an entire chunk of your life tossed out? Maybe it’s bad. Maybe I shouldn’t even be thinking about it so much, but you haven’t even given me the chance to figure any of this out.”
