Strikeforce (19 page)

35

Cassius pushed Madame back toward the doorway of the farmhouse. “Get back inside.”

“I'm not leaving you here alone.” She stood her ground.

Cassius stole another glance into the darkness. He wasn't sure if the foot soldiers' intent was to sneak up. If so, they were failing. If not, their movement seemed unusually slow. The longer they took, the less convinced he became that they meant to attack at all.

Ignoring Madame, he took the two steps down from the porch and stood in the front walkway, waiting.

The soldiers continued their approach. Cassius could see their every move—darkness or no darkness. They formed a semi-circle in front of him, eyes glowing crimson in rapt attention. It was as if they were analyzing him. Like they weren't sure exactly who they were looking at.

Cassius stood his ground, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.
Don't let them think that you're afraid of them
.

He balled his fists at his side. The Ridium quivered against his skin, ready to obey any command he gave it.

Instead of attack, the nearest soldier opened his mouth to speak.

Cassius knew that his words were another language. Part of his brain couldn't understand them at all. Yet somehow the Ridium translated. Somewhere deep inside his mind, the meaning became clear.

“Soldier,” the Drifter started, “what is your number?”

Cassius hesitated, unsure of what exactly the guy was asking. Then he remembered what Fisher had said about the Drifters—that they all had numbers attached to their names, that it had something to do with social standing on Haven.

He decided to play along. Taking a quick stock of the brigade before him, he didn't notice any obvious weapons. That didn't mean that they couldn't be concealing something, but they clearly didn't know who they were dealing with. Lying would be a reasonable option.

“Two thousand seventy-eight,” he answered. He wasn't sure if his reply came out in English or the new Haven language, but the soldiers seemed to understand.

“A middling number,” the man replied. “And what are you doing in this territory? There is nothing here of note.”

Cassius gritted his teeth. “I could ask you the same.”

The alien chuckled. “Careful. You have not yet asked my number. You should not be so confident that you outrank me. I'm the one asking the questions here.”

Cassius smiled. He'd dealt with soldiers like this before. He'd grown up with them his whole life in the Lodge. There was no use trying to be funny or casual. This guy put his stock in the chain of command. Rules and regulations. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Drifter kept his feet planted, eyes fixed on Cassius. “You should come with us, soldier. It's not wise to be out here alone, waiting for instructions that will never come. The people who live in these places … they are the most rudimentary and aggressive of all the humans we've come across. This is their territory and they know it well. You are at a disadvantage, here by yourself. It doesn't matter how strong your suit is.”

Cassius raised his shoulders, refusing to move any closer to the battalion. “Where are you going?”

“Our final attack begins soon,” the Drifter replied. “While our non-Shifting allies continue their disruption of this civilization, we must be in position, ready to answer the call when it is given. It's lucky for you that we were passing through this area and felt the presence of your suit. Even luckier that I am not King Matigo himself. He surely wouldn't be thrilled with a soldier of his own training shirking the responsibilities that were so honorably given to him.”

Cassius wanted desperately to glance back at the house and see if Madame was still standing behind him, but he knew that if he showed the slightest amount of concern, his cover would be blown.

Too late.

The soldier's next question trapped him.

“Are you aware that there are humans inside that building behind you?”

Cassius shook his head immediately, instantly regretting it. A “no” too early could be just as much an admission as a “yes.”

“Hmm.” The lead soldier turned to glance at the battalion to his right, then to his left. He didn't need to say a word. The black-clad soldiers sprang into action immediately, bounding toward the farmhouse. Cassius wanted to shout out, to warn Madame and Eva. But there wasn't time. The Authority moved as one unit, swift and unforgiving. His only option was to fight back.

But what use was he—a kid who'd just discovered the power to shift Ridium—against a battalion of trained soldiers, presumably Shifting for years now?

Luckily, Cassius had never been one for fair fights.

He let loose with all he had, all at once. The Ridium exploded around him, transforming into dozens of tentacles, all reaching out in different directions. Coils surged at each of the oncoming soldiers, forcing them to defend themselves.

And they did, with little trouble.

As impressive as his initial assault had been, the Authority soldiers cut through his attacks in moments. Some sculpted their Ridium into sharp, knifelike blades. Once sliced, the tentacles from Cassius's suit dribbled into mush, rolling across the ground to reform with the rest of him.

Others responded with vast Ridium shields. What looked like black umbrellas formed over their torsos, easily pushing back his meager creations.

He'd given himself away. As soon as the soldiers realized that they had a battle on their hands, they moved all their attention from going after Madame and Eva to attacking Cassius head-on.

He went from the offensive to defensive in a matter of seconds, conjuring tendrils to push back against them. But he was only one against a small army. No matter how fast he moved, they had more firepower.

One of their Ridium coils wrapped around his leg, just below the knee. Before he could pull away, he was yanked upside down, into the air. He flew backward, away from the house. His arms flailed as the ground came up at him. Just before hitting, he managed to form a cushion of Ridium in front of his body. He bounced before landing on his back.

Tendrils whipped at his body, covering ankles, toes. They were gonna pull him apart, piece by piece. Is that what these people did to traitors?

“Wait!” He heard the lead soldier's voice call from somewhere past his feet. “Keep your hold tight, but don't kill him. I want to ask a few questions first.”

Cassius squirmed on the ground, held down by dozens of oily black coils. He kept from Shifting his own suit, knowing that they would only force him to the ground again. He needed a moment to refuel. If this guy wanted to talk, Cassius would take it as an opportunity to regain his bearings.

The lead soldier's eyes, red as lasers, came into view overhead. Everything else was black. “Tell me, num
ber two thousand seventy-eight … if that really is your number … who do you serve in this war?”

Cassius remained silent. He let his limbs fall still, refusing to struggle against the coils. He knew that he should try to keep up the lie as long as possible and give the guy the answer he wanted, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

“Silence, from you, will mean a limb torn from your body,” the soldier continued. “Shall we start with an arm?”

Cassius gritted his teeth, unmoving.

The soldier continued. “I'd like to think that your outburst was blind panic and nothing more. But you are harboring humans in that building, and that violates Authority rule directly. You've no doubt heard what King Matigo does to traitors. If he were here now—”

“I'm sorry,” Cassius interrupted. “I've … I've lost my way.” He took a breath, trying to decide what to say next. All the while, he began to concentrate on the energy inside of him. He'd gotten lazy, too focused on his new shifting powers when he could be attacking using his preferred method. “When my Pearl landed … something was … faulty. I was confused … about the mission. I wasn't even sure who or wh
at I was. I ran across these two—”

“Enough.” The soldier leaned forward. “I don't know whether I should laugh or simply bash your head in. If you think I would believe—”

A hailstorm of bullets interrupted him. The foot soldier stumbled forward, nearly collapsing onto Cassius's body. Instead, he staggered to the right, lurching through the night like someone had just stabbed him in the gut.

The tendrils holding Cassius down slithered away immediately as the other Drifters fell to the ground.

Cassius scooted back and sat up, peering across the distance to the house's wraparound porch. Through the mask of Ridium, he could see two figures clearly. Madame and
Eva stood side by side, each brandishing what looked like an old-fashioned rifle. They fired into the darkness. He knew that meant they could just as easily hit him as they could the bad guys. But this was Madame. No risk, no glory.

Cassius also knew that no simple bullet could take these guys down. Once they realized where the attack was coming from, the Ridium would deflect the shots with ease. Luckily, the girls had taken the soldiers by surprise. They'd bought Cassius time.

He felt his chest begin to boil—heartburn to the hundredth degree. Even so, this time felt different. The Ridium suit acted as a sort of cushion between the fire and his body, dulling the usual warmth.

He wondered if he could somehow use both powers in conjunction. Ridium plus fire—would it result in anything different? In the past, it had been difficult to focus the flames. If the Ridium acted as a cushion, maybe he could use it to more accurately channel the torrents. The problem was: how to do it?

His suit didn't give him a chance.

Without a thought, the blackness exploded around his body in all directions—a multi-pronged, multi-tentacled monster. A succession of Ridium-formed hoses whipped through the air like branches in a hurricane.

Each found their mark quickly, wrapping around the stunned bodies of the Authority soldiers.

Before they could react, Cassius felt fire course from his body—hot and concentrated and brimming over. Instantly, flames scorched the dozen whips around him, setting forth a dramatic frenzy of inferno.

He could barely control it. Bands of fire ripped through the atmosphere, each extra appendage carrying with it enough flames to level a building.

The heat burned straight through the soldiers' suits. Ridium hissed—an otherworldly sound as Cassius tore it open. The soldiers tried to counter, but nothing was under their control any longer. They flailed and writhed on the ground as Cassius's flaming tendrils ate away at them.

After a certain point, Cassius didn't even realize what he was doing anymore. He couldn't stop the fire from generating inside him, nor the Ridium from coiling along the ground like an army of oily snakes.

He felt his fingers squeeze together, forced shut by the suit. The black coils wrapped around the soldiers once more, burrowing right through their bodies. It cut them into pieces right before his eyes—cauterizing flesh less than a second after it had melted through.

It happened too quickly for screaming. Still, the sight was enough. Cassius stumbled back, unwilling to look at what he'd done.

Madame and Eva ceased fire. All at once, the flames died, as if silenced by a single, forceful gust of wind. Cassius watched as the Ridium recoiled to his skin, settling against him in absolute silence. A massacre of soldiers lay before him, unrecognizable in their current state. The night fell still.

“Cassius!” Madame ran toward him, but she wasn't fast enough to catch his body before he sank to the ground.

He didn't feel the least bit winded, but the suit's sudden power surge had taken its toll.

His skin tingled, like a thousand bugs crawled over him.

“What did you do?” Eva's voice rang out somewhere above him. “What the hell did you just do?”

He closed his eyes, feeling a renewed closeness to the suit that both reassured and terrified him. It had protected him, but not before completely taking over his body. Is that what he wanted? Maybe it would take a monster to win this war, he reasoned. And for now, that monster appeared to be on his side, protecting him. But he knew so little about Ridium. What would happen if it shifted alliances?

“Cassius?!?” Madame's concerned voice cut through the silence once more.

She'd always taught him to live under the old adage: keep your enemies close.

But this could be cutting it too close.

36

I stagger down the corridor, still off-balance from the chaos in the meeting room.

Most of the advisors have scattered, but Alkine is waiting for us.

Savon pushes past him without a word. I'm not so lucky.

“Jesse.” He grabs my shoulder, not letting me pass. “You wanna tell me what just happened in there?”

I pull away. “I need to see if my father's all right.”

“First, you need to tell me what you know.” He grabs my arm.

I glare at him. “I know nothing, okay? Now let me free. You've gotta get the pressure stabilized in there, anyway.”

“Already on it,” he responds. “Look, even I know that's
not the way Drifters act. They're supposed to be on our side.”

“Maybe the Authority's controlling them,” I reply. “I don't know. But I've gotta follow Savon. He needs to talk to me.”

Alkine loosens his grip. “Anything he has to say can be said in front of me.”

“He doesn't trust you.” I yank free, rubbing my arm. “If you're really serious about working together on this, you'll let me talk to him before any more of your meetings.”

Alkine closes his eyes for a brief moment, muttering under his breath. “Fine. But stay on this level. I might need you.”

I nod. “Go secure the room. I won't be long.”

Without waiting for a response, I run after my father, catching up with him just as he turns a corner into another corridor.

“Savon,” I start. “Wait. I don't know what just happened, but I—”

Savon stops, looking over his shoulder before finding the nearest door and pushing it open. “In here.” He steps through.

I move in after him, taking in the surroundings as I let the door shut behind me. We stand in one of the Academy's many classrooms. In fact, this particular one belongs to Mrs. Higgins, Head of Year Seven. It's been since last fall that I took a class in here, but the familiarity—the ordinariness—of it puts me at ease immediately. There was a time where these types of rooms gave me more stress than I could handle. They were arenas for guaranteed failure. Now, the Academy's trials and tests seem like child's play. I'd kill to have that back.

I watch Savon stride to the far end of the room and stop under a display of inspirational posters, the kind that litter the walls of every classroom onboard.

I take a deep breath. “Do you have any idea what just happened in there? I tried to stop them from coming, but they were too strong.”

“Your brother's close,” he replies, back turned to me.

“You're not worried? We were just attacked by our own kind!”

“You were not attacked. Those Drifters had a very clear agenda. An unfortunate move, I'd say.”

“I don't know—”

“Cassius is close,” he interrupts. “But he needs a push. Something extra to show him exactly where we are. I need him onboard.” He pauses. “A distress signal should do nicely.”

I take a step closer. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

He laughs. I'm struck instantly by what an odd response it is to the question. Maybe he's in shock. Maybe he really
is hurt. “You're so thoughtful.”

“What's going on?”

He shakes his head, then turns to look at me. “It wasn't meant to play out like this, but then again, I couldn't have planned it better.” He glances around the room. “An enclosed area, thousands of feet in the air over an ocean. A floating prison.”

“Father … ”

He laughs again, interrupting me. “In another time, your naiveté might be charming. But you're blind, boy. Absolutely blind. There's a reason I want you and Cassius together.” He takes a step forward. “But it isn't to save the world.”

“What are you talking about?” I feel the words catch in
my throat.

“Jesse Fisher.” He smiles. “Your Earth name. Born to Savon and Adaylla, leaders of Haven's Resistance.” He c
ontinues to approach. Slow, deliberate steps. “Your parents are dead, boy.”

I shake my head. “No. You're—”

“Too trusting,” he says. “You let hope cloud your judgment.”

“You're my father.” The words come out barely audible. “You said—”

“I
killed
your father.” He stops. “And your mother. Wretched piles of matter, that's all they are. I watched them melt.”

“No.” I stumble back.

He smiles. “Say my name. I know you know it.”

I shake my head.

“Say it!”

I stop, frozen in place by fear. “M-Ma-Matigo?”

With that one word, everything crumbles inside of me. All hope in a future where I know my family. All hope in allies that can win this war and stop the Authority. I feel completely empty, like all the breath has been sucked out of me at once. I can barely stand.

“Yes,” he replies. “Very good. You don't know what a burden it was for me, posing for so long. Biding my time.” He pauses. “There were soldiers who would've happily carried this out on my behalf, but it had to be me. I needed to become your father to understand you. I needed to be close. Gain your trust. Watch that hope surge inside of you, only to fizzle.”

He laughs. “It's the greatest victory of all. And that's before I've killed you.”

I swallow, barely able to get a word out. “Stop.”

“No.” He approaches. “Never. I am Matigo. I do not stop, even for a moment. You see, I need to kill you and your brother at the same time. That's how it must be done. I have a window of an hour, maybe two, before the powers of one slain brother transfer to the other. I can't allow either of you to become the Key
and
the Catalyst. Cassius must join us. You must die together.”

Then I watch the dark patch over his left eye begin to dribble down his face. At first, I'm not sure what's happening, but then it becomes obvious. I should have seen it before.

Ridium. The patch is made of Ridium.

It oozes down the side of his neck, curling around his shoulders like a serpent as he speaks. “I often wondered about you, boy. Never once did I picture such a pathetic, quivering mass.”

I turn to run. Before I can, the Ridium whips out from his shoulder, forming a claw and clutching me around the neck. The oily blackness throws me into the wall, pinning me against a bulletin board.

Matigo moves nearly as fast, pulled forward by the force of the Ridium. The last of it drips from his eye, revealing a deep hole, burning crimson. The red energy pulls me in, even as the Ridium constricts around my neck. His mouth juts into a horrifying frown before speaking again.

“This should get his attention. Now how do I wound you badly enough without killing you? Maybe start by cutting off some limbs? Your friend's already lost a hand today. Maybe you'd l
ike to join him?”

He laughs, gleeful in the part he's played. Unrepentant and proud of how fully he appealed to my insecurities.

“Come dawn,” he continues, “everything will be gone for your people. Your world will be remade. The great Flood is coming, and there won't be anywhere to hide. A part of me wishes you could watch the destruction, but like your parents, you're too dangerous to live.”

I kick at him, but it's no use. The Ridium pulls tighter, so tight that I can barely breathe. Seconds more and I'll black out—won't be able to fight at all.

I open my mouth to call for help, but can't make a sound above a whisper. Matigo lifts me higher, brings my feet off the ground.

The room starts to blur as details disappear. Darkness forms around the edges of my vision. Unconsciousness beckons. After that, death.

I have only one chance. The Academy's airborne. There's no way they would have made it all the way across the Pacific at this altitude on solar alone.

I need a Pearl.

I close my eyes, trying to forget the pain as my neck buckles. I ignore my own shallow breathing, though it's the only thing keeping me alive at the moment.

Instead, I feel for Pearl energy. I search the entire ship, throwing a desperate plea to the farthest corners of each level. There's got to be a Pearl onboard. Alkine wouldn't let the ship travel without backup.

Something snaps. A bone? A jolt of pain runs down my spine. It's all I can do not to scream.

Then I find it. Two levels down. Dr. Hemming's lab.

With everything I've got, I call it forward, knowing that it might already be too late.

I feel the world drift away. I'm halfway dead—I know it without any question. Matigo's laughter echoes through the empty room.

I can't tell how far away the Pearl is. I only know that it's coming. But I haven't got time. Nobody's coming to help me and my lungs are starved for air. I clench my fist, acting more on instinct than anything else.

An explosion tears through the room. The Ridium whips away from my neck as the wall behind me crumbles. I fall backward into the corridor beyond the classroom, unable to deflect the oncoming rubble from the collapsed wall. I open my eyes to see a burst of green filling the air, just as a large piece of fiberglass pins my leg to the ground. These walls are strong. They shouldn't explode so easily.

A large sheet of wall tumbles down on me. I protect my face, but not enough to avoid the rubble. A second more and I can't see anything. Matigo could be anywhere. He could be readying for another attack. I've used the only Pearl I could find.

I'm completely defenseless.