The Topaz Operation Page 17

  “That was fast.”

  “The Arrow was made for stuff like this. Keeping track of prisoners, hunting them down if necessary.”

  “So we’re going to team up with a confirmed traitor and murderer?”

  He’s also my brother thought Ryle but didn’t say it. She was right, of course. Teaming up with Rez was a questionable enterprise, but what other choice was there? Rez had changed in his time on Chrysolite; at least Qusam thought so. There was something about Rez’s desire to find Jez that struck Ryle, something he couldn’t easily nail down—the old gut feeling he supposed. It felt sincere, as if Rez needed to prove something.

  “I get what you’re saying, but I do believe he’s changed and wants to make things right. I won’t let him hurt you,” he said.

  “I’m not so much afraid of that. It’s just with me and my job it’s complicated.”

  “Well, we haven’t got him yet. So let’s just try to relax a bit until then.” Ryle punched in the coordinates and activated autopilot.

  “Relax?”

  “Sure.” Ryle unstrapped himself, floated up and pushed over to Aphiemi. He unstrapped her from the co-pilot seat and pulled her out of the seat into the “air” with him. They clasped both hands and slowly twirled.

  She smiled. “You know, this is a lot like dancing.”

  “I’m not moving my feet, so it doesn’t count.”

  “Ha.”

  “Still cold?” he asked.

  “Freezing.”

  He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. They rotated in mid-air, horizontal to the floor. Her icy cold neck touched Ryle’s. How does she live like this? Always so cold. Her shivering subsided and her body relaxed in his arms, her head on his shoulder.

  He faced her and, theorizing her lips were cold and in need of warmth, pushed his against hers. They kissed while spinning in mid-air. Her diamond, on its necklace chain, floated out and cut a slice across Ryle’s cheek. Pre-occupied, he didn’t notice at first. Drops of blood, in tiny spherical droplets, bubbled out and spread all over the cockpit. A few droplets floated upward and splashed inside the ceiling-mounted control module. Sparks popped resulting in the reactivation of the artificial gravity. Ryle and Aphiemi plunged to the floor.

  “Ah!!” she shrieked and laughed.

  Ryle wiped blood off his bleeding cheek. “I’ve always said sparks fly when we kiss.”

  She groaned.

  Chapter 36

  Brayden shoveled endless piles of dirt in the underground mine. He stopped and wiped sweat and grime off his face. This is so horrible. I’ve got to get out of here. I don’t care what happens. He glanced over at Malaiya who was digging on the opposite side of the narrow corridor. Hard at work, she did not notice his silent glances trying to get her attention.

  A warbot and two solders marched through the passage in between them. As the Archon trio came to the turn ahead, Brayden figured they were going somewhere useful, perhaps a way out because he never saw the same troops come back from that way. He had accepted that running toward the entrance was a bad idea as several boys already tried and paid the price. A whole squad of troops guarded that way. There had to be another exit.

  Brayden kept his head down and acted as if he was digging, but moved around the boy next to him and went back to digging along the wall. Moving quicker, he kept up the same routine until he was all the way to the connecting corridor. He peeked around the turn and nearly wet himself when from behind someone grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t, Bray! Are you nuts?” whispered Arlo.

  “I’m going nuts, Arlo. I have to try.”

  “What about your big sister?”

  “She’s on her own. She wouldn’t try this anyway.”

  Arlo tucked his shovel under his left arm and pointed down the corridor. “I heard that passage heads west and then out to a landing pad.”

  “I knew it!” said Brayden.

  “I’ve been thinking about this too actually. I can fly a ship, ya know.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, we just have to steal the launch codes from a guard.”

  Brayden suppressed a cough from his parched throat. “Maybe this is too stupid to try.”

  “No, you got me all fired up now. We’re doing it.” Arlo glanced around and led the way forward. They jogged about thirty feet and stopped, pretending to dig. Their best cover was the shadowy lighting. While strict, the guards usually reacted only if their diggers were in active rebellion or obvious flight for the front entrance.

  “You two need to get back where you were, now!” said Malaiya, suddenly right behind them, giving Brayden another terrible fright.

  “Oh, it’s you,” said Brayden. “Go back! This is dangerous,”

  “Exactly! And you,” she said, pointing at Arlo. “You’re gonna get my brother killed.”

  “It was his idea! Hey, come with us. You know you wanna get out of here, see your parents again, right?”

  A squad of four troops approached, marching through the passage from where the kids came.

  “Dig!” said Malaiya. The three of them put their heads down toward the wall and dug furiously.

  The troops stopped next to them and the squad leader examined the area. Brayden held his breath and could barely articulate the shovel properly.

  “There’s an unbalanced number of workers in this area,” said the squad leader. “Move some of them down the passage.”

  The other three troops each picked a nearby child and prodded them with their rifles back down the passage. Brayden, Malaiya, and Arlo remained. Brayden breathed again.

  “We should go back,” whispered Malaiya.

  “We wouldn’t want to unbalance the digging would we?” said Arlo with a smirk. “I have an idea.” He pulled out of his pocket not one but two small diamonds.

  “Whoa, two?” said Brayden.

  Arlo nodded and peered down the passage. There was one troop on patrol far down the passage, walking away from them. Arlo pulled up and threw the diamond down the middle of the passageway. He pointed and shouted, “Look, a diamond!”

  Dozens of kids turned their heads. They gathered around the glittering jewel, an inspiring sight in this dungeon. Several troops ran up. “Move! Out of the way. Move!” said the leader as he and his men shoved kids out of the way. A warbot stomped toward the diamond.

  “Let’s go,” said Arlo, motioning around a corner. Brayden and Malaiya followed him. They kept their heads low as they slipped through onlookers.

  The squad leader handed the diamond to the warbot, who analyzed it and put inside a chest compartment. The leader screamed down the passageway, “Get back to work! There’s more to be found!” To prove his power, or to just be obnoxious, he fired a rifle blast down the passageway. It struck only the wall but motivated the kids to spin around toward the walls and resume shoveling.

  Arlo led Brayden and Malaiya down an even darker passage, a lone electronic torch lighting the way. Brayden was glad he had come across Arlo again. He couldn’t have done this on his own. And having his sister along was probably good too. They came across an area of the mine with a ladder leading upward to somewhere. This must be it!

  Two guards bearing big blaster-rifles emerged from the shadows beside the ladder. “What are you doing down here?”

  Brayden froze.

  Arlo held up his shovel. “My shovel is broken. So’s theirs. We can’t dig.”

  As the guard approached, Arlo swung as hard as he could with the shovel, whacking the guard in the head hard enough to bring him to his knees. Malaiya ran and threw herself into a ball at the other guard’s ankles, knocking him off his feet. The guard lost grip of his rifle and it clanked to the ground at Brayden’s feet. Brayden grabbed the rifle, but its heaviness disoriented him.

  “Whoa,” said Brayden as the tip fell forward to the dirt. He heaved the rifle up with both arms.

  Arlo swung again with his shovel, smacking the guard to the ground. Brayden aimed at the other guard and fir
ed but his shot sailed high.

  “Watch out!” said Malaiya.

  The guard jumped back on his feet and pulled out a pistol blaster. Brayden squeezed off another shot and the blast nailed the guard in the shoulder. Brayden fired again and hit him square in the chest, driving him to the ground.

  Arlo kept whacking the other guard on the head over and over.

  “Stop!” said Malaiya. “That’s enough.”

  “Those last ones were for my Grandma and Grandpa,” said Arlo.

  “Do these guys have those codes you need?” asked Brayden.

  “I’m checking,” said Arlo as he frisked their bodies.

  “Hurry!” said Malaiya. She grabbed the first guard’s pistol.

  Arlo finished, frustrated. “They don’t have ‘em. They’re not pilots. Let’s just go up the ladder and we’ll find a pilot on the way out.”

  “You sure this is the best plan?” asked Malaiya.

  “You gotta better idea?” yelled Arlo.

  “Shhh!” said Brayden.

  “I’m going up,” said Arlo. He started up the ladder.

  Brayden put the rifle strap over his shoulder and followed, struggling against the weight. Malaiya followed last. Brayden looked straight up and saw nighttime stars flickering high in the distance. Hope swelled within him. For a moment, he forgot about being exhausted and starving.

  Arlo reached the top, peeked out, and told the others to wait. He climbed out and disappeared from view. Arlo’s head reappeared and he waved them up. Brayden climbed up, crawled onto a wide dirt-covered circle, and crouched down. Plain-looking bunkers and military barracks lined a path. Concrete walls sat on the opposite side. Malaiya climbed out and joined them.

  “Look,” said Arlo. “There’s the edge of a transport ship over there behind that grass thingy.” A clustered row of tall bushes blocked a full view of the landing area.

  “That thingy is a hedgerow,” said Malaiya.

  “Whatever. It’s dark. Anyway, I guarantee there’s a pilot over there. I saw someone. If we sneak toward the ship I bet we can make it. They won’t be expecting us.” Arlo waited a moment, got up and walked slowly against the nearby wall toward the ship. The others followed. In a couple minutes they progressed almost to the hedgerow hiding the ship. The hoarse puff of ship boosters startled them, but it was just three ships passing overhead and speeding away into the night.

  They reached the hedgerow. Brayden took a deep breath, gripped his rifle, and braced himself to take out the pilot if necessary. If this wasn’t such a miserable experience it would have been kind of cool. Once he escaped, he couldn’t wait to tell his friends back on Onyx. And his parents. His eyes misted up. Arlo smacked Brayden’s chest.

  “Let’s go,” said Arlo.

  Brayden followed him as they rounded the hedge. Just as the transport ship came fully into view, footsteps clattered behind them.

  “And just where are you three going?” said a sneering voice.

  They froze.

  “I didn’t know we had soldiers this young. Turn around!”

  They turned. General Heedin stood there with his hands on his hips in a display of pompousness. Six elite soldiers accompanied him, their rifles trained on the escapees. Brayden recognized Heedin from the newsfeed on Onyx, though the general was more overweight in person. Everyone knew who Aqtal put in charge here. Brayden swallowed. His rifle drooped and his heart thumped. Two armed pilots approached from the other side, blocking the path to the ship.

  “Very interesting. Very. Wouldn’t you say, Captain?” Heedin said to the soldier next to him.

  “Yes sir, it is,” said the captain.

  “Three children tramping across my base to a ship, hoping to escape,” said Heedin, stepping closer. He whipped his metal rod up to Arlo’s chin and slowly pushed his face upward to make eye contact.

  “Be careful, General. They’re armed,” said the captain with a toothy smile. The other soldiers laughed.

  Heedin shook his head. “I think we’ve scared them senseless. Senseless.”

  Malaiya gripped her pistol and her hand twitched, as if she was going to pull up her pistol and fire.

  Heedin frowned. “If you move another muscle, my dear, every child underground here dies tonight. Tonight.”

  Brayden glared at her. She dropped her gun to the ground. Brayden set his rifle on the ground—quite a relief not to be holding it anymore. Three of the soldiers moved over behind the kids, stood behind them one by one, and forced them to their knees.

  “What shall we do with them, General?” asked the captain.

  “Despite their scrappiness, we will do what we normally do with escapees. Shoot them,” said Heedin.

  “Put your heads down!” shouted the captain.

  Brayden fought the urge to run. He breathed heavily, practically hyperventilating. Three sets of soldiers’ legs stood in front of him. He closed his eyes. He waited. Tears flowed.

  A coolness passed over him—intense, unsettling, cold. He kept breathing, in and out. In and out. He slowly opened his eyes. The three sets of legs were gone and replaced with one long flowing robe and an iron staff.

  A terrifying, raspy voice spoke. “Leave these three to me.”

  Dumbfounded, Brayden stared up at the menacing wraith dressed in purple and holding a staff capped with a skull.

  Is this the angel of death?

  Chapter 37

  “Lieutenant, your leg is broken. Allow me to reset it,” said Tara as she snapped Lygalia’s right tibia back into place.

  “Ahhh!” Lygalia swung a punch at Tara’s face but stopped short, restraining herself from contact.

  “She works quick, huh?” said Jyssa. Humor kept Jyssa from panic as they were stranded in the middle of the forest outside Laylon in the dead of night with no food, water, ship, or supplies other than what was strapped to their bodies, and with Lygalia’s leg fracturing at some point during their chaotic ejection and landing. Jyssa survived with only a couple scrapes, though her left knee throbbed from the landing. Thankfully her helmet’s nightvision still worked; Lygalia’s was toast. Did taking off on ridiculously dangerous missions run in the Gelibor family? Jyssa started to understand what made Ryle tick—she had a mission to accomplish and nothing would stand in her way.

  Tara reached up and broke off a small tree branch. The sight of Tara’s back made Jyssa wince—the wizbot’s artificial skin was charred and mostly peeled off revealing her metallic endoskeleton. If Tara was capable of feeling pain she didn’t show it. She kneeled and held the branch next to Lygalia’s right lower leg. “Perfect match. Do we have any tape, Sergeant?”

  “Fresh out,” said Jyssa.

  In between moans, Lygalia said, “There’s a rope in my backpack.”

  Tara reached in, found the rope, and tied it around the branch and Lygalia’s leg making a splint. Lygalia gritted her teeth through the pain.

  “I’m sorry our pain pills were lost on the ship,” said Jyssa.

  Lygalia, downcast, muttered, “I am sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for?”

  “Making myself deadweight.”

  “Nonsense. We still need you,” said Jyssa. While the leg was a setback, Lygalia was still a powerful wizard who obviously could be useful.

  “I can’t walk.”

  “I can carry you,” said Tara.

  “Why don’t I just stay here and keep a lookout?” said Lygalia. “You two could make so much more progress without me.”

  Jyssa considered it but didn’t feel right leaving an injured girl out there all alone. But Lygalia was definitely no ordinary girl. “How easy can you carry her?”

  “No problem at all,” said Tara as she slid her hands under Lygalia and effortlessly lifted her up, provoking a mild moan.

  “Settled,” said Jyssa. “A question, though…can’t you heal yourself?”

  “Wizards healing themselves is a controversial topic. I was never very good at healing anyway.”

  Jyssa nodded and reme
mbered Qusam never healed himself either. Strange. “Tara, aren’t you a wizard too? Sort of?”

  “I seem to have lost my wizarding abilities,” said Tara.

  Lygalia shrugged. “What’s your plan, Jys?”

  “Judging by our fall, I believe we landed west of the city,” said Jyssa.

  “Sounds about right,” said Lygalia.

  “So for starters, let’s head that way.” Jyssa pointed to their right, straight through the forest. She trudged ahead, pistol blaster in her right hand, knife in her left, and her nightvision visor enlightening the way. Tara, carrying Lygalia, followed behind.

  “You still have your staff, right?” asked Jyssa.

  “Always,” said Lygalia as she pulled it out of her back sheath.

  “That would have made a good splint,” said Tara.

  Lygalia smirked. “We’ll just stick with the branch for now. Thanks for the lift, Tara. It’s nice of you.”

  “You are welcome, Lieutenant.”

  “We do have one advantage,” said Lygalia.

  “What’s that?” said Jyssa as she sliced through thick brush.

  “The Archon thinks we’re dead.”

  * * *

  Two hours later, they finally found a stream clean enough to drink from. The Archon’s polluting tendencies had affected most of the Laylon area bodies of water. Parched, Jyssa scooped up several mouthfuls—the best water in a long time.

  Tara, with seemingly no ability to get tired, set Lygalia down by the stream close enough for her to take a drink. Tara bounded up a tree, climbing to the top for a better view.

  “How close are we?” asked Lygalia.

  “I hope really close. I’m so ready to get out of these woods,” said Jyssa.

  “Same here.”

  Jyssa scooped up more handfuls of water. She criticized herself inwardly for not planning ahead better for situations like this. But she also wasn’t expecting her ship to get blown up on the way either—her second destroyed ship in the last two days.