A Hero Rising (14 page)

Gemme stared at the spinning particles. If she fell too soon, she’d be stuck in the particles of the hatch and the portal would rematerialize inside her. She had to wait for the hatch to become solid.

The air grew thin and she gasped for breath. The force of the suction pulled at her, yanking hair out of her ponytail. Once the hatch formed, she leaped down on top of it. Scrambling in the folds of her uniform, she brought out her keytag.

Thank goodness she’d worn it around her neck. Sometimes the cord irritated her skin, and she took it off, setting it by her touchscreen. Now, she wasn’t sure if her touchscreen still existed. The thought of her office pummeled by comets flashed in her mind. She couldn’t go back for anything now.

She shoved the keytag into the portal panel and typed
override
. A message popped up.

Please enter your security code.

The temperature dropped and she shivered, sucking in one last breath. Gemme forced herself to type slowly to get it right. One missed touch would shut her out forever.

Her heart raced as she tapped the panel and the particles disappeared.

A wave of hot air blew by her as the hatch reopened. Gemme jumped down and slammed her fist against the panel to close it above her. As the particles solidified, she climbed down to the next level and kicked something blocking her way.

“Whoa! Look out.”

Miles Brentwood gazed up from the toes of her boots, his green-flecked eyes piercing the semidarkness. Gemme’s heart sped up. To see any person right now made her emotions crumble, never mind the man she’d been thinking of ever since she deleted their pairing. “If you’re going up, there’s no way out. I sealed the passage.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He took the sight of her in, traveling up her cheek to her eyes and she almost lost her grip on the ladder rung. “I’m looking for you.”

Miles Brentwood had come to spend the end of the world with her? Gemme’s mind reeled. Nothing that morning had made any sense. She felt stuck in some sort of quasi-nightmare turned hot dream. “What?”

Although chaos crashed around them, his hair still looked perfect, the blond wave rising an inch above his broad forehead. “I’m retrieving all the stragglers. I followed your locater number.”

“Oh.” She looked away, feeling sheepish and small. How could she have ever thought he’d know who she was, never mind go searching for her in particular during this disaster?

He gestured over his shoulder. “There’s a safe chamber just down this hall. Follow me.”

Gemme collected her scattered emotions just as something crashed against the hatch above them. The screeching sound of crushed metal echoed down the vent shaft.

Brentwood shouted over the din, “This compartment’s losing pressure, come on!”

She followed him down two more levels and through a side passage she’d never have found by herself. They crawled through an air shaft, collecting dust webs under their fingers. A metal grating hung missing half its hinges. Had he come all this way just for her?

Brentwood looked back at her over his shoulder. “It’s not far. You can jump.”

He paused at the hole below them and waited for her to make the first move.

Of course, his valor screamed “ladies first.”

Gemme dangled her legs and judged the distance from the ceiling to the floor below her feet. If she fell the wrong way, she’d break both her ankles.

He must have seen fear cross her eyes because he offered his hands. “Here, I’ll help you.”

The warmth in his voice calmed her racing thoughts. She locked on his gaze. The flecks of green were so pure, they reminded her of the foliage in the biodome. Those eyes could have been hers to gaze into. She damned the pairing program. Why had it ever put such an outrageous idea in her head?

“Take my hands.”

Gemme blinked her thoughts away and slid her hands into his. Their palms molded into a perfect fit. His skin emanated heat, warming her cold fingertips. She closed her eyes as the ship crashed around them. She expected to feel pain, but a light-headed ecstasy bubbled over her.

When she opened her eyes, the airshaft remained intact with Brentwood eagerly waiting for her to move. All the crashing had happened inside her, levels being knocked down to reveal surprising emotions she didn’t think herself capable of. Yet, the feelings stirred an undercurrent of familiarity. Gemme searched his features to see if he experienced any of the same emotions, but his wide lips frowned. He was more concerned for her than drunk on possibility He hoisted her down and her feet hit the floor with a bounce. The ship pitched again, and she fell against the wall. Brentwood jumped behind her and ushered her forward, his hands along her waist.

“Just a few more steps.”

They ran to the belly of the ship, where the structural integrity would hold under pressure. Brentwood slapped a panel and the portal disappeared to reveal a bunch of colonists huddling together. Food rations were stacked against the far wall along with space suits. Panic worked its way up Gemme’s spine. If they needed those suits, they were dead already.

“Shouldn’t we run to the escape pods?”

Brentwood shook his head. “Not yet. The Seers believe they can salvage the ship. The escape pods would only scatter us into deep space.”

Gemme nodded and bit her lower lip. She’d known his answer. Escape pods were useless unless they found a habitable planet. It would only delay inevitable death.

He bent down, his face hovering a breath away from hers, lips slightly parted. Gemme froze in shock, noticing each light hair in his eyebrows and the moisture on his lips. Only lifemates leaned in so close. He pulled back, shaking his head as if recovering from a trance.

“My apologies. I must search for others.”

Before Gemme’s heart could beat again, he’d disappeared down the corridor, smoke trailing in his footsteps.

Chapter Two

Damage Control

Each comet collision to the hull hurt like a puncture wound to Mestasis’s own flesh. She checked on Abysme, but her sister calmly calculated readjustment maneuvers by her side, as if evaluating a math equation. More cyborg than woman, she showed no sign of physical pain or emotional reaction to the threat. Although Mestasis had no more of a claim to normal humanity than her sister, her thoughts battled with which parts of the ship to salvage.

The biodome sat in the center, just above the heart of the ship. She’d instructed Lieutenant Brentwood to secure the majority of colonists beneath it, so that part of the ship took priority over all else. They must preserve the human, animal, and plant life, which meant steering the extremities into the line of fire.

Abysme’s head jerked.
Engine capacity at thirty-six percent. Rerouting alternate energy means.

Mestasis sent out a corresponding impulse.
Harborside capacitors engaged.

Did Abysme’s voice hold a hint of desperation, a fraction of humanity? Or was Mestasis the only one of them to weigh such decisions on her soul?

A comet ten meters across crashed into the main communications tower. She winced as she sealed the bridge, locking out three colonists to preserve the lives of the several hundred hiding below in their family cells. Each life lost was a unique human genome that could never be reclaimed or reproduced. The
Expedition
was losing its diversity, and Mestasis could only gamble so much of it away before their mission failed.

She needed her sister now more than ever.
Bysme, what are we going to do?

Abysme’s cataract eyes flickered like two radiant moons.
Structural integrity will hold. We must fly through the field. Protect the orb.

The orb was the least of their concerns. What was her sister talking about?
Bysme? Protect the orb?

Abysme shifted, wires stretching.
Protect the ship.

The cold, analytical edge to her tone made Mestasis want to cry out and shake her. But Abysme was right. The comet conglomeration trailed too far back to sit and wait it out. They had to navigate their way through or risk further damage.

The engines flared up and she knew Abysme would use their last store of energy to propel the ship forward. Estimating the trajectory with the least amount of exposure took only milliseconds, but to Mestasis it weighed on her soul like an eternity. She chose the course, and Abysme approved it. Together their minds steered the ship within centimeters of collisions on either side.

Ninety-two percent of her mind worked on navigation, while the last eight percent traveled to a memory she thought she’d lost. They’d worked together once before to prevent a disaster threatening both their lives.

…

Old Earth, 2436

The air hung hot and dry with golden swirls of dust accumulating on everything in a thick sheen. The world had turned stale and Mestasis could feel conflict brimming in every molecule. She chipped a piece of old paint off the banister and let it fly into the wind. Leaning over the balcony of her high rise, she peered through the smog clouding the lower levels below.

A piece of tarp rustled as a woman hung her laundry to dry. Children kicked dented containers in a game of soccer on an intersecting corridor between her building and the one next to it. Above her, the roar of engines filled the air. Hovercrafts flew between the buildings stacked like dominoes across the world’s surface. The rich had no need to descend to the lower levels.

Until today.

“When will he come?”

Mestasis turned and saw her own face: dark skin, round, velvety brown eyes, and thick lips. Abysme leaned on the edge of the patio door, wearing her best clothes and the one pair of waterproof boots they’d saved up for all summer to share.

“Soon. I thought I heard the engines coming down, but it was a transport ship.”

Abysme jutted out her lower lip. “I don’t want to leave Mom. She needs us.”

They’d had this argument a thousand times, yet Mestasis tried once again to convince her. “With this, we can help Mom more. Just think of the money we could make if we get in, if we graduate.”

“I just want the world to stay as it is.”

“Everything is going to change, Abysme. I can feel it. The only way we’re going to survive is if we change with it.”

Her twin joined her on the balcony, clutching the railing as if the smog would rise up and take them away. ”That’s what I’m afraid of, Metsy.”

Mestasis took her hand. “I’ll always be by your side. That’s one thing that won’t ever change.”

The air rumbled over their heads and a gust of wind blew back their hair. A hovercraft with the words
Telepathic Institute of New England
lowered between the buildings and hung like a dragon across their balcony.

The hatch lifted and a middle-aged man emerged. His pale skin shone white in the sun. Streaks of gray shot through his curly blond hair.

“Are you Abysme and Mestasis River?”

Mestasis nodded with determination. Abysme shot him a suspicious stare.

“Are you ready to take the tests?”

“We are.” Mestasis nudged Abysme and she nodded, studying her boots. If their mom had been home to say good-bye, Abysme would’ve had more closure. But she had a double shift at the recycling factory, and she’d lose her job if she missed a day. They paid a hefty sum to live in New York City on Level Fourteen above the gangs.

“Jump in. I’m Doctor Jasper Fields. I’ll conduct the tests when we arrive.”

Mestasis mindspoke, reaching out to comfort her sister.
Bysme, take a deep breath. Don’t look back.

Abysme stuck out her lower lip.
You can’t make me.

Frustrated, Mestasis threw down their only case of luggage. If her twin exhibited a negative attitude the whole time, TINE would never accept them.

Tears dripped down Abysme’s cheeks. She mouthed something, but Mestasis couldn’t tell what she said over the din of the hovercraft’s engines. To her surprise, Abysme jumped first. She settled into the seat next to Dr. Fields and sulked as she clicked the seat restraint.

Mestasis paused at the threshold. If they passed the tests, they’d live at TINE, and she wasn’t sure how much they could visit. She ignored her own advice. Looking back to their tiny apartment, she tried to memorize the weave of the rug where they’d played algebra games all night, the shape of her mother’s sleeping bag huddled next to the wall, and the antique mirror where she’d helped Abysme braid her hair. Emotion surged up, and her knees weakened. She shouldn’t have looked back. Sniffing, she tore her gaze away and leaped into the hovercraft, feeling like she plunged off the balcony to end her life. She settled into the seat next to the doctor.

“Get comfortable. It’s a long ride to the coast.”

Their tiny apartment disappeared and they rose through the misty clouds. Neither of them had seen the world above Level Fourteen. Mestasis shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the bright sun. The upper levels had windows with real plants, extravagant porch-side gardens, and decks to land hovercrafts. A greenhouse capped each building, shielding the damaging ultraviolet sunlight.

…

A crash against the outer hull brought Mestasis back to the present. She blinked, staring at the comet trails streaking across the main sight panel. How could she loose herself in a memory in a time like this?

Because they succeeded in the past, and she needed the memory to remind herself they’d succeed again. When they worked together, they were an unbeatable pair. Using her sister’s ability to stretch her mind ahead of the ship in the vastness of space, she calculated the course, steering clear of the largest comets.
We can do this.

…

An hour later, someone nudged Mestasis’s arm. Her lids flickered open, golden swirls dissipating. Where was she? She stared out the sight panel of the hovercraft seeing sky so blue it looked like paint. Dr. Fields. The tests. They’d left home forever. She decided she’d rather be asleep than deal with her turbulent emotions.

Bsyme, Bysme, why did you wake me?

Something’s wrong.

Mestasis was the emotionally stronger twin, but Abysme’s talents outdid hers by tenfold. If anything was wrong, she’d know.

What is it?

Abysme grabbed her sister’s hand and shoved it against the dashboard. Images flooded Mestasis’s thoughts: energy capacitors, system hydraulics, air exhaust pipes. Something wavered beneath the hood, an oval-shaped metal pod. The heat signature surged well beyond normal levels. A drip of sweat ran down her forehead.

What is that?

Abysme shifted on her seat, eyeing the doctor.
I don’t know, but it’s gonna blow.

Panic flooded Mestasis’s mind.
How are we going to tell him? He’ll never believe us.

Abysme’s eyes widened, intense.
Show him.

Their heads turned to the doctor and they stared, projecting the image of the metal pod. The doctor winced and jerked his head. The hovercraft dipped in the air before he regained the controls. Mestasis’s stomach flipped and she gripped onto her sister’s arm for support.

“What the—”

Abysme squeezed her twin’s hand and they resubmitted the image.

His head turned to them and his eyes widened. “It’s coming from you?”

She nodded in unison with Abysme.

“You’re telling me there’s something wrong with the engine?”

They nodded again, slow and certain.

Looking like a ghost had slipped over him, the doctor brought up the systems with the tip of his finger and eyed the gauges. “You better not be pulling a prank to delay us, girls. It says here everything’s fine.”

Abysme shouted through her mind.
Don’t be stupid.

Mestasis hushed her twin’s words before they reached his ears. She gave her sister an admonishing look.
You could explode his head and make us crash anyway.

Abysme shrugged as if admitting to cheating on a test.
I’m just trying to keep us safe.

Don’t think you could fly this thing.

Abysme stuck her nose up in the air.
You wanna bet?

The doctor punched in a landing code. He spoke into the intercom. “Requesting clearance on the next available dock.”

A signal from the top of a building below them blinked as a beacon.

He sighed. “We’re going to be late to our appointment, but I’ll have them take a look.”

The hovercraft descended toward the building, clouds parting before them in wisps. As the pressure on the engine lifted, the heat signature dropped and Mestasis breathed. The ship parked on the ridge of a greenhouse, sending up dust and dirt into the atmosphere. The hatch lifted and cool morning air seeped in.

“Don’t go far. I’ll be right back.” The doctor jumped out and signaled a man from inside the greenhouse. Abysme jumped out after him.

Where are you going?

Just looking around.

Mestasis gazed out the main sight panel. The tangle of vegetation spread against the glass of the greenhouse. Vines reached up for the sky as if struggling to break free of containment. Besides their potted single blade of grass, she’d never been close to real leaves. It reminded her of the jungle stories Mom whispered at bedtime. Maybe it was okay to take a closer look.

She caught up to her sister just as Abysme smeared her face against the glass. Mestasis touched the greenhouse, and condensation formed around her fingertips. A tomato, vine ripe and bulging with watery seeds, made her tongue tingle. Beyond that, rows of apple trees stood like soldiers in a formation, dotted white with growing blossoms.

She trespassed in a high-up world where she didn’t belong. Pulling a soybean wafer out of her pocket, she crumpled it in her palm. They ate processed food, while the rich enjoyed the last fruits of a dying Earth. As much as she hated them, she wanted her family to be a part of their world more than anything, to live in the final rays of the sun.

Steps sounded behind them. The girls whirled around as if caught stealing. Doctor Fields panted, running a cloth over his forehead as he caught up.

“You’re both accepted.”

“What?” Mestasis rubbed her eyes against the glare of the bright sun.

“You don’t need to take any tests. You’re in.” He handed them a locator. “Call your mom if you want and let her know before we take off.”

“I don’t understand.” Abysme finally spoke out loud, and Mestasis jumped at the rancor in her sister’s voice.

“The hovercraft had a bad ventilator. Rat droppings clogged the filters.”

He shook his head in astonishment. “I’ve seen a lot of telepaths in my career, but never have I seen two bound together in synchronization. You girls saved our lives. You don’t have to worry about a single thing again. TINE will take care of you from now on. Be back by the hovercraft in five minutes, girls.” Doctor Fields gave them a stern glance before turning around.

Abysme kicked the side of the glass with her boot. Mestasis cringed, but the wall didn’t shatter. The tip of her sister’s boot thunked and bounced back. Even though Mestasis had secured their future, she couldn’t help the dirty feeling she’d also given away their deepest secret and sold their souls for a better place to live.