Bounders (33 page)

“Get out of the way, Jasper!” Ryan yells as I bend around to the riverside. The Bounders pummel the aliens' shield with everything their gloves can control. The aliens fight back, hurling light-balls at the Bounders. Thank goodness our shields appear to be holding.

“Where's Cole?” I ask.

“At the edge of the river, leading the charge!”

Sure enough, there's Cole. He's shouting directions and waving his arms, coaching the Bounders through the attack.

“What about Lucy?” I ask.

“Last I heard she was shuttling information between the Tunnelers, the aeronauts, and the Bounders. Check the center of the circle.”

I step inside the silver light and weave between the wrecked hovers. I finally find Lucy talking urgently with Waters near one of the shield posts.

“Jasper!” She runs over and clasps my hands. “Thank goodness you're all right. What about Marco? Mira?”

“They're fine, but tired. We can't hold the aliens for much longer. Pretty soon the ones across the river are going to up their attack.”

“He's right,” Waters says. “Lucy, gather the others. We'll pack into the remaining hovers and retreat. There are better defenses at the mines.”

Lucy nods and rushes to find Cole.

“I'll tell Marco and Mira,” I say to Waters. “We'll try to stop the boulders. That will give you time to get away.”

“We'll come for you. Watch for our hover.”

I nod.

Waters grips my shoulder. “And, Jasper . . . thank you.”

His eyes are imploring, kind of like the alien's. If I look at him any longer, I might crumble. Instead I spin and fly, dodging through the Bounder offensive and speeding across the field.

By the time I reach them, Marco's face is pale and glazed with sweat. He's exhausted. We have nothing left in us.

“We're falling back,” I tell them. “Try to give the others some cover while they load the hovers.”

“I can't do it anymore,” Marco says. “This guy's too strong. I just have to take him out.”

Before I can respond, Marco grabs his pack straps and takes off. He's flying up the cliff face, straight for the alien. Oh no. He's on a kamikaze mission.

“Cover me!” I shout at Mira as I soar after Marco. There's no way he'll be able to take out that alien all by himself.

Marco's above me, flying hard for the summit. Does he even have a plan? Probably not. Marco's more of an act-now-think-later guy. But he's got guts.

He's nearly there. Who knows? Maybe this will actually work.

Then Marco freezes. His body twists at an odd angle. His eyes lock with mine, and I can see his struggle. His fear.

The alien has control of Marco's atoms.

MARCO'S BODY GLIDES IN A WIDE
arc across the sky. He lands right in the middle of the herd of mammoths at the watering hole.

“No!” I roar, soaring toward the summit, bracing my brain for the alien's touch.

I land at the very edge of the cliff. An enormous silver spaceship is mere paces away. The alien is perched on top, arms outstretched. Even with my gloves, I am absolutely no match for this guy.

Leaping onto the spaceship, I tackle him.

As soon as my body touches the alien's damp skin, a wave of emotion fills me. Surprise . . . confusion . . . anxiety.

These aren't my feelings. They're his. And somehow I have the upper hand. It's like he has no clue how to deal with physical contact.

I slam my fist against his face and knee him in the belly. He struggles beneath me, trying to squirm his way out. Even though he's twice my size, I have the advantage. I press my palms against his wet warm skin and pin his green head to the metal.

Even as I pound him, the connection between us intensifies. We're linking in some way, like Mira and me in the Ezone. My heart beats in sync with his. Our emotions start to blend.

And again I hear the word.

Leave.

No! I will not listen to this guy. This guy who spent the last twenty minutes attacking my friends. This guy who just tossed Marco, probably to his death.

Leave.

“No!” I shout at him. “You leave!”

He vanishes.

Oh no. I didn't mean it that way. He must have bounded. I push myself up and look around. No alien. I stand and scan the area. No aliens across the river or in the valley. No aliens anywhere.

The ground quakes, knocking me off balance.

Wait a second. I'm not standing on the ground.

I'm on a spaceship. And it's lifting.

Oh no. I've got to get out of here.

The ship pitches forward, and I land on my belly. I scramble to the edge and grab on as we glide forward off the cliff.

This was definitely not part of the plan. My throat feels like one of those nasty tofu dogs is lodged inside. There's not enough room to breathe.

The valley spreads beneath me as the ship flies higher.

Think, Jasper. How are you going to get off this ship?

I'll have to bound.

I tap in and begin to gather my atoms.

And then suddenly I can't. I'm blocked. The ship begins to spin. Slowly at first, then faster.

Oh no. They've lifted the shields. They're preparing to bound, which means I can't bound out.

What on earth am I going to do? Even if I survive their bound by clinging to the edge of this ship, who knows where I'll end up? I could be clear across the galaxy with these aliens!

In the fields below, some of the hovers are speeding away. They look like toys from this high up.

I suppose I could jump. I still have my pack, but it's a long way down.

What would Marco do?

I push to stand, squeeze my grips, and run full speed off the edge.

The whirling vortex beneath the ship grabs me and swirls me around. No matter how hard I direct my intention, the force of the motor in my blast pack is no match for the downward spiral of air. And even if I clear the shield, there's no way I can open a quantum port while getting tossed around like this.

The wind stings my skin and pulls at my pack. The ship spins faster every second. At this rate, I'll be torn apart in a matter of moments.

I suck in air but still can't breathe. Maybe the air is too thin this high. No, I'm just panicking. Hyperventilating.

Calm down, Jasper. You can handle this.

The twisting air drills down like the funnel of a tornado. My only shot is to stop fighting and let myself drift along. Hopefully, the spiral's strength will fizzle out as it approaches the ground, and then I can break free. Otherwise, the combination of the spinning air and gravity will bring me to a quick end.

I try to relax and float along with the air current, conserving my energy for the moment I need it. Every few turns I test my pack. I still can't break free.

At least I'm not as high anymore.

The spaceship rises above me—a great disk of spinning metal both wider and thinner than any ship in the Earth Force fleet.

And then there's me, the enemy soldier falling in its wake.

None of this makes sense. Those aliens have far superior technology. They could have annihilated us.

A single word rings in my mind:
Leave
.

I test my straps. A slight resistance, then a bit more. With all my energy focused on the straps, I force free of the vortex.

Shocked by the sudden switch, I drop several meters before regaining control. The fierce wind fights for my pack. I grit my teeth and push on. The connection with my brain is laser-sharp. Slowly, the animals in the valley grow from miniature to life-size as I continue my descent.

I soar to the field where Mira waits for me. She almost tackles me with the force of her hug. I bury my head in her shoulder. I wish she had some energy to feed into me. But she's just as exhausted as I am.

The spinning vortex of air reaches the ground, clouding the valley with dirt and debris.

Mira and I stand hand in hand and gaze up at the enormous spaceship. The ship blocks the starlight, and the sky is dark with dust. Even though it's afternoon, it feels like twilight.

The ship begins to change. The wide silver circle collapses and folds, shrinking in diameter as it spins, until it is no bigger than one of our own quantum ships. A silver ball in the sky. It's there. And then it's gone.

They bounded. And with their departure, the starlight returns.

Maybe this is over. A glimmer of hope sneaks into my chest. I squeeze Mira's hand, and she squeezes back. We walk toward the remaining hovers, where they're loading the wounded for transport back to the mines.

Then a strange sound fills the valley, and the ground begins to shake. Up ahead, a rolling cloud filled with strange forms tumbles across the land, heading right toward us and the hovers.

The wildeboars. They're charging. All one million of them.

The spaceship must have agitated the herd and incited a stampede. The hovers are in their course. They'll be trampled! I bolt in that direction, but there's not enough time to get the others to safety. The herd will be upon them in seconds.

A sound trickles into my brain. I cringe, bracing for the return of the aliens' high-pitched wail, but this sound is different. An achingly familiar, melancholy note merges with the next note and the next until the entire valley is filled with the most penetrating music I've ever heard.

Mira's hands are raised in the air. She moves her fingers in a pattern that resonates with rhythm and reason. Her chin is lifted to the rays of starlight. Wisps of loose hair crown her head in a halo.

The sounds are emanating from Mira. From her gloves. She's playing music, just like she did in our pod room.

Her face is strained, pulled, as her music grows more complex, the harmonies more sophisticated. We're back in the music room, her delicate body swaying and bending with the emotion of the notes. My heart aches from the sound. I feel like weeping and jumping for joy at the same time. And it's working. The wildeboars come in their cloud of dust, but they're disoriented and sluggish. The music is affecting them, too.

But it's not working fast enough. The wildeboars are still closing the gap to the hovers faster than the Bounders can escape. It isn't any use. There just isn't enough time.

Then I feel her. Mira. Inside my brain.

Play!

Of course. As Mira's music moves through me, I let my own notes rise up and force them through my fingertips. Our music rises together and fills the Paleo Planet.

The wildeboars come, but slower still. New sounds join our chorus. Some of the cadets must have tapped into our song.

I chance a glance back. Most of the hovers have left. A few load their last passengers. And one waits. For us. Waters stands at the helm and waves his arms.

The wildeboars have slowed enough. If we use our packs, we'll make it before the stampede overtakes us. “Fly for the hovers!” I yell.

I let my notes drop off and pull Mira's hand. “We've done it! Let's go!”

She won't open her eyes. Her music swells again, but her notes are strained. She's so tired. I can't leave her.

Still the herd comes. I peek back at the hovers. All but one have left. And the one that's still here is gliding forward. They're coming for us.

The wildeboars are closing the gap. “Mira, we need to go! Now!”

The hover is nearly here. And so are the wildeboars. I wrap my arms around Mira. I hope I'm strong enough to throw her aboard. The dust cloud reaches us.

And then Mira vanishes. And the music stops.

And all is quiet except the sound of thundering hooves.

“Mira!” I yell.

Waters grabs my arms and yanks me onto the bow of the hover.

“Mira!” My screams scrape against my throat. Waters holds me in a vise grip, but I pull against him. “Mira!”

“She's gone, Jasper,” Waters says.

“Nooo!” I can't believe it. She was in my arms seconds before. And I failed. She died for us. All I had to do was pull her onto the hover, and I failed.

I surge again, nearly dragging Waters off the bow with me. Beneath us, the wildeboars pass. Fast. Without the music, there's nothing to subdue them.

“Stop!” Lucy slaps my face. “Snap out of it, Jasper. She bounded, okay? She's not here.”

She bounded? I had Mira in my arms, and then she was gone. Could that be it? Could she have gotten away?

Cole grabs my legs and helps Waters haul me into the belly of the hover. I collapse onto the seat next to Lucy.

Waters yells something at the Tunneler, and the hover speeds for the mines.

“You're sure about Mira?”

“Absolutely,” Lucy says, squeezing my hand.

I shake uncontrollably. I've never been so exhausted. “What about Marco?”

“He's in bad shape,” she says, “but he's alive. Waters sent him back to the mines.” She takes my other hand. “We're safe now.”

“Safe?” I say. “We're not safe. The aliens may still be out there.”

“We heard the report from the base,” Cole says. “There is no longer any trace of the aliens in this star system, and they were preparing to raise the shields.”

Waters crouches before us. “You kids have some explaining to do, but there's no time now. I promise you, as soon as we get to the mines, you're loading onto the craft and leaving the planet. I have a responsibility to keep you safe.” Waters runs a dirty hand through his hair. “Where is Mira?”

No one responds.

“Look, I saw her bound. I need to know where she went.”

Still no one responds.

“Now!” Waters shouts.

“We don't know,” Lucy says.

“Jasper, think!” Waters says. “Where did Mira go?”

There's only one place she would have bounded, even though it's a galaxy away. “The Ezone.”