Nyteria Rising (The Thirteenth Series Book 3) (23 page)

“Thank you,” Zac replied.

Enoch pointed Val in the direction of the hilltop. “Jason’s working with Fran.”

“Come on Zac. See you all in a minute.” She excused them and they started their ascent at speed.

She arrived in the cave to hear Jason shouting. This wasn’t quite what she was hoping for. “Get me back
online now!” he was raising his voice at a woman who was clearly trying her best.

“Jason.” Val put her hand on his shoulder.

The relief on his face was only momentary. “Val, Sam’s in trouble. I’m going to lose him.”

Val understood straight away why he was in such a state, but this wasn’t helping the woman. “Jason, we aren’t going to do that. I have the Warden and Nathan wants me, so we have two bargaining chips. Where is he and what’s he doing?”

“He was heading down an empty corridor. He said something about High Judges and then we got cut off.”

“He’s back!” The woman jumped out of the seat to let Jason back in. Val patted her on the shoulder and she looked relieved.

“Sam can you hear me?” Jason asked.

There was a moment of static, “Yes. Have you heard from Val?”

“Here boss,” she called out. “Want some help? I can come back and meet you.”

“No, give me another few minutes to find them. Well done, Val. There are sirens ringing out all over the Prison so I hoped you’d been successful.”

Jason was tapping away on his laptop which had large glowing crystals all around it. “What’s with the rocks?” Val asked Fran.

“They’re a form of power source; it’s like Duracell from another galaxy.”

“Jason, tell me what’s coming around the corner,” Sam asked.

Jason tapped looking at his screen, “Next one’s clear, mate, but there’s a large area that I can’t see after that.”

“That could be because that’s where they’re holding them.”

Zac was tapping on his watch. “That is one of the main containment areas outside the docking bay. It will have storage for large and powerful prisoners. It is an ideal place to hold them.”

“Thanks Zac. Jason, mark the coordinates to this location.”

“Ok.” He made a mark on the virtual map.

“It looks…” The signal was gone.

“Sam,” he called. “Sam.” Jason looked up at Val.

“Give him a second. You said he was going into an area where there was no signal.” They stood together. The seconds ticking so slowly it felt like time had slowed to a standstill.

Enoch’s entrance made them all jump. “How’s he doing?”

“We’ve lost his signal, but he was just going into an area that he thought was holding the High Judges.”

“How long has he been offline?”

“Almost three minutes now,” Jason answered.

There was static. Val felt her heart skip inside her chest. “Hello.”

“Sam!” she shouted.

“Well, hello there and who are you?” A voice that wasn’t Sam’s enquired.

Val pushed Jason to one side. “I’m Val Saunders, prison Guard Twenty-three thirteen and who are you?”

“I am someone who would very much like your presence.”

“Nathan,” Val said.

He laughed. “I’m pleased I made an impression on you. You stole something that was very important to me and I want it back.”

“I think the Warden is more mine than yours.”

His voice became tense. “Not the Warden, although I would like him back as well. You have powers that no one here seems to be able to match and annoyingly, you have given the Guards hope, taking away their fear. I need to quash that before it goes any further. Now that I have your, Sam, I think you may be interested in co-operating. It seems we can’t locate your signal, so unless you hand yourself and the Warden over to my soldiers, Sam will die along with the Collectors who were stupid enough to help you. So, bringer of hope, what do you say to that?”

Val looked at Zac. He shook his head. She signalled to Jason to turn off the mike. “He thinks we’re still on the Prison. He knows nothing about this place. If we go back, it’ll give you time to sort this out.” Enoch was now also shaking his head. She knew as well as they did that if she went back with the Warden they would be lost. Sam would have looked at the bigger picture. He wouldn’t care if he died to make sure the prisoners had hope, but she loved him and that was making her weak. She signalled to turn the mike back on.

“Well?” he sounded annoyed at having to ask twice.

“I think I...” she started to speak then pulled one of the crystals away from the computer and it instantly shut down.

“What are you doing?” Fran gasped.

“I’ve just given us a few minutes grace. Now get another computer up and running with a different frequency. Zac, find out how close we can teleport. I’m going back to the surface.”

“Well, if you’re going through with this, let’s get our troops ready,” Enoch said.

“Do we have troops?” Val felt a little more confident at hearing that.

Jason had a laptop in his hands. “I’ll get another link to the planet, but you’d better have a good plan, Val.”

“I will find you the best place.” Zac tapped at his watch.

“Come with me, let Jason and Zac do what they need to do.” Enoch led her out of the room and back towards the exit of his hilltop cave. “Don’t worry, we will do everything in our power to get Sam back, he’s our brother.” He lifted what Val could only describe as a primitive drum stick and hit it against the rocks. The sound wave that came from the stick vibrated through the air. Val couldn’t hear anything, but she felt it running through her body, like the vibrations of a speaker when you put your hand on it. He kept striking and to Val’s surprise people appeared and started heading towards them. “Sometimes you only need to feel the calling,” Enoch said.

“That’s amazing.” She saw them all lining up together.

Enoch stopped beating and raised his hands to get their full attention, “Family, as you know the surface is
under attack. I know how you feel about them. I know you were rejected and sent to your endless deaths, but our brother Sam has been captured and his life will be taken.” There were gasps of shock from the group. “We may not be quick enough to save him, but we have to try.”

A young man with a metal arm called up, “What will happen to us? We are seen as the weaker ones and I have heard there’s a virus that has taken away their power.”

“I can answer that in part.” A young woman Val hadn’t met before joined her and Enoch. “Hello Val, I’m Hereswith, but you can call me Eswith.” She smiled and her face lit up. Val was momentarily taken aback by her natural beauty. She had an athletic build complimented by her flawless skin, pale from living under ground. “We have an answer,” she spoke to the crowd. “We can reverse the virus, but to free the Guards already infected will take at least half a cycle, twelve hours.” She told them. “However, because we haven’t been subjected to the virus here, we can protect you now, before you go to the surface.”

A cheer went out amongst the gathering. Enoch brought them back to silence once more. “You need to understand that this will change everything. At this moment we’re invisible, but in doing this we will become visible to the Prison. We have the advantage, but after we’re done, things will never go back to the way they were.” His words hung heavy in the air.

“May I speak?” Val heard a familiar voice. To her surprise she saw the Warden walking into the crowd.

“We all have an equal right to speak here,” Enoch said respectfully.

The group turned towards the Warden.

“I have been overwhelmed by the information I received on arriving here. This virus comes directly from me, so I feel responsible for my men and now for you. Despite the way you have been treated by the Prison, you have welcomed me and I have found lost Guards and Hunters, people I had mourned. Yet now I can rejoice that you’re alive. It was never my intention for you to be in this place, although I see you have made a wonderful home. As Enoch rightly says, if you go to the surface to help save the Prison, you will no longer be hidden, but you have my word that when this ends, you will all be free. I have much to learn about you and your existence, but all I ask of you now is that you help us.” His voice filled with determination. “We
will
defeat Nyteria, and bring back freedom to the Prison!” he bellowed.

The cheers were even louder now and the energy in the closed space was electric. “How long will it take to get them ready, Eswith?” Val asked.

“An hour, maybe a little more.”

“They have Sam now Enoch. How are we going to stall Nathan whilst we get them ready?”

“We need a distraction.” Enoch said matter-of-factly.

“I’ll be that distraction; they won’t hurt me,” Val said.

“I will come with you.” Val turned to see the Warden had joined them. “I can make this right for you, Enoch. You were a brave and loyal Guard. I am happy with the knowledge that you are the one who will come and save us.”

Enoch bowed his head in respect. “It was a lifetime ago.”

Val interrupted. “No pressure, but get vaccinating the Guards and whoever else we have. I just need to get
Sam’s location from Jason.” She left them and headed back to her friends. Jason was diligently tapping on his keyboard and Fran was by his side. “Got any news for me?” she asked.

“Yes, here’s the place they took him. If you look at the map you’ll see that it’s five corridors south of the teleportation room.” He pointed to the flashing cursor.

“This is where we need to teleport.” Zac showed her on the map.

“There is no
we
this time, buddy. I’m going with the Warden and they need your help here.”

“This is not a clever move. You will need me.”

“Zac, they need every last piece of information about the Prison. They need you. I’m just going to get captured, that’s not hard. Please stay here and help them.”

Zac looked distressed. “You know what they will do to you if you go back.”

“Yes, Sam showed me, but I’m prepared to take the risk. Are you prepared to let me?”

He nodded, not in agreement, just in resignation that he wasn’t going to win.

“Ok then, me and the Warden are going in.”

Jason handed her a tiny ear piece. “Take care and put this in your ear; nothing like good old fashion technology.” She took it, he was right. Maybe the old stuff would work better in a place controlled by advanced technology.

They embraced and Val left them. As she was leaving the room, she spotted Wendy waiting for her. “Hey, you ok? You look tired.” Val could see that the experience was starting to wear her down.

She took both of Val’s hands. “I’ve had another vision.”

“Stop! If it’s bad news I don’t want to know. I’ll run with fate.”

“It wasn’t about the battle; it was about you and Sam.” She smiled.

“What did you see?” Val was now very interested.

“You were choosing a wedding dress. There were so many, all different colours and designs.” Now Val could see why her friend was grinning.

“Well, let’s look at the positive side, if I was looking at dresses it means we’ll make it through.” She kissed Wendy on the cheek. “I’m not quite ready to walk down the aisle at eighteen, but it’s nice to know it may happen one day. Now I have to go and sacrifice myself for my future husband.”

“Stay safe until I arrive,” Wendy said pulling Sam’s silver wand out.

“You took that from Lailah’s body!” Val was impressed. “See you soon.”

She left her friend and joined the Warden who was busy greeting his lost Guards and Hunters. For the first time she saw a human side to him. They were all showing him the utmost respect. “Warden, it’s time we left.” She broke up the reunion.

“Yes, let us go.” He patted a young man on the arm and Boden walked with them down to the door. Val said her goodbyes once more and then they were out in the open, ready to teleport.

“Take this.” The Warden handed her his bracelet.

“You need it to keep your power up.” She pushed it back at him.

“I’m an old man and what power I have has no use for me at this time. I have always underestimated you,
Earth girl. You are power in its purest form. Let’s go and free our Prison.”

Val put the bracelet on next to her own.
Our Prison
he’d said, it whizzed through her mind. The rest of her family were stuck on Earth, possibly being interrogated by MI5. Her mum and dad had lost everything, Jason his dad, and Fran her sister. What was it all for? She loved Sam, but this had to stop. “I have one request before we leave.”

“Anything.”

“When this is over and we have won, I want to go home with my parents and friends to a world that doesn’t know who Val Saunders the disappearing freak is. I want to live a normal life.”

“I can make that happen.” They shook hands to seal the agreement and left the monochrome landscape of the Space.

Their arrival was instantly detected, but that was the aim of the game for Val; Zac had given them the perfect location. She was struck by a soldier from behind and fell to her knees. The Warden was a tougher prospect and it took four to bring him down, however, they were both subdued in seconds. She knew better than to retaliate, she wanted them to believe she had been affected by the virus. If they knew she had her powers they would be able to take them away, and the aim of this exercise was to stay alive as long as possible in order to get the others back.