The Proving (34 page)

“Gaaaabe,” she groaned, angry at the use of her nickname. He just grinned. She stepped onto his folded hands, grabbing two of the folds of metal along the exterior of the container to steady herself. He lifted her up. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself onto the top of the container, the tip of her little boot bouncing noisily off the steel.

“Wei, draw your gun,” Gabriel said. A chill ran down his spine. She looked so exposed and lonely up there, just out of his reach. The pessimist inside his head told him there were bodies inside these containers, all right, only they weren’t bodies of
living
human beings. There was no one alive here — that was why they hadn’t heard from Skye or Ben or Cleo or Seamus.

And whatever was in those containers was trouble.

“Wei,” he said, licking his lips. He backed up so he could still see her as she moved toward the center of the container. “Draw your VR pistol.”

“I have it,” Cassidy reminded him.

Gabriel drew his pistol. He jumped, setting it on the top of the container. “Grab it,” he told Wei.

She walked back and grabbed the pistol, giving him that same annoyed look. As if he was seriously trying to embarrass her. “Hey! I just want you safe.”

“There’s something going on,” Cassidy said. He was looking toward the other end of the loading bay. Down the corridor that led into the research labs were two people. Gabriel’s glasses identified Ben and Cleo.

“They’re running,” Tahlia said nervously.

“I’m at the hatch,” Wei announced. Gabriel turned back to the container, stepping back so he could see her. She’d knelt down and was using her fingers to pull on something metallic. “It’s just a latch!” she called out.

Reza looked up at Gabriel and smiled, holding up his watch. “That’s good, because this is just a regular old watch. Someday, though, my sis is gonna crack it open and give it an upgrade so I can add a couple programs. I always tell her she’s a level-five wizard because some of her programs work like magic. She can open doors and drive cars and make credit machines spit out credit chips.” He wrinkled his nose. “Just forget about that last part.”

“I got it!” Wei said. There was a metallic sliding sound. Gabriel stood on his tip-toes, trying to see, but he could only make out the top of Wei’s head. “I’ve got the metal shutter thingy open, Gabe! Hello! Is anyone in there?”

“Wei!” Gabriel shouted. He hurried to the container and jumped, grabbing the top and trying to pull himself up. His boots slid along the side, unable to give him enough traction. He landed back on the ground. “Wei, just step back until we know it’s safe!”

“Something’s wrong,” Cassidy said.

Gabriel turned back toward the tunnels. There was a dark reddish glow now at the far end, backlighting two running figures. A Sebecus Specter phased its way through the far door. Ben and Cleo were running fast, close to halfway down the long tunnel where a small lift sat beside the wall. Ben’s medical kit bounced against his hip, its strap nearly catching on the handle of the lift. As she passed it, Cleo grabbed the handle of the lift and pulled it behind her so it rolled in the center of the tunnel, as if that might stop their ghostly pursuer.

The Sebecus Specter let out a low moan and took off after them on all fours, its spiked tail swinging wildly from left to right.

Gabriel’s body went numb. Tears coated his eyes. He turned back to the container. “Wei! Wei, get down from there right now. Wei!”

He took another step back so he could see her. She was kneeling beside the top hatch, shining her flashlight down inside the container. Her eyes were wide. The flashlight shook in her hand.

“Wei!” Gabriel shouted frantically.

“Wei, come on!” Reza shouted.

“Wei!” Tahlia joined in, stomping her foot on the ground. Gabriel clapped his hands together.

“Wei!” he screamed. “Wei! Little bug, please come down!” He turned back to the tunnel. Ben and Cleo were less than a hundred meters away now, their boots pounding on the concrete floor. Ben had taken the lead, leaving Cleo a good twenty meters behind him. Behind Cleo, the Sebecus Specter was gaining ground, moving silently, almost floating as its long tail swung back and forth, painting the corridor shades of bright red. It was big, so big that it couldn’t even move around the lift — it simply surged through it, expending so little energy that its reddish glow didn’t diminish at all. “Everyone point your weapons!”

“I can’t shoot!” Tahlia said. “Ben! Get out of the way!”

They were at the end of the tunnel, sprinting down the empty loading bay. Cleo faltered, as if her leg had suddenly given up; she recovered and turned away from Ben, limping in the opposite direction. Something caught Gabriel’s eye to the right: Skye! Skye and the Historian, stopping at the end of the other corridor just as Ben ran past them, trailed by the massive Specter.

The Historian fumbled with his pistol. Skye aimed her rifle.

“Ben!” Tahlia shouted. Her gun was shaking in her hand. Gabriel reached out to grab it but before he could, Tahlia pulled the trigger. A blue proton bullet burst from the barrel. Gabriel spun around; the bullet went wide of both the Ben and the Specter. The Specter looked wounded — there were chunks ectoplasm missing from its body and head and lower jaw. But it was gaining on Ben, ignoring Cleo completely.

Only twenty meters away now.

A burst of fire from Skye’s VR rifle. Proton bullets tore through the back of the Specter, piercing its scaly hide and diamond-shaped spikes.

“Ben, just fall!” Tahlia shouted.

“What?” Ben huffed.

“Fall!” they all shouted at once.

Ben obliged, sliding face-first on the floor. His glasses went skidding across the concrete. Tahlia fired her pistol. Reza fired his. Cassidy fired both of his.

And from behind, Skye and the Historian matched the firepower. Blue proton bullets cut through the air like fireworks, tearing the Specter to pieces from two directions. Its color faded to yellow. It let out one long moan that echoed down the tunnels, and then its form completely broke down. The yellow embers settled on Ben’s body, disappearing as their energy faded.

Gabriel’s legs shook so much that he couldn’t stop himself from falling to his knees. He watched Ben get up and gently touch his red cheek. The skin had rubbed against the concrete and looked painfully raw. But the color seemed to return — he was OK. Everyone was OK.

They’d worked together. And won.

A silence hung in the air. Gabriel turned to Skye and the Historian. Their eyes were wide, surprised. Surprised that the rest of the Coterie had contributed so much? Surprised that the kids were capable of heroics, too? Or . . . surprised at something else?

Gabriel turned to find Wei. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

There, perched atop the shipping container no more than a meter away from Wei: A Manteidos Specter, its four wings spread angelically. Its bright orange glow illuminated Wei’s pale skin. Its mandibles quivered.

“Wei!” Gabriel screamed.

Wei’s frightened gaze finally broke from whatever was inside the container. She looked at the Specter, then turned to her brother with a look of horror on her face. Gabriel felt his heart crack in two. The kids turned and, without a moment’s hesitation, fired their pistols. Blue proton bullets flew past the Specter. One hit its wing, puncturing a hole. Another clipped one of its arms. It rose up over Wei and raised one knife-like forearm.

Gabriel watched in horror, feeling his entire body grow numb. The force of the Specter’s knife-like appendage hitting Wei’s shield knocked her back. More bullets hit the creature, sending fragments of glowing orange globules flying in every direction, lighting up the corner of the loading bay. The creature’s claw was putting stress on Wei’s shield — from where he was standing, Gabriel could see just a hint of his sister’s wide eyes, her terrified expression as she tried to crawl to the edge of the shipping container. He couldn’t move. His muscles were frozen. His eyes couldn’t — wouldn’t — turn away.

And then her shield failed. The creature’s claw passed through Wei’s body.

Gabriel screamed.

“Cassidy!” Skye shouted. Her brother turned; she nodded her head upward, hoping this would be one of those moments where siblings shared a single brain. Cassidy understood well enough, kneeling on all fours and flattening his back.

Skye reached him one short breath later, stepping on his back and pushing off. She felt him fall away from under her but she had enough momentum to reach the top edge of the container. Her Ecosuit absorbed most of the blow; still, she still felt the air escape her lungs. She ignored the uneasy feeling and swung her leg, pulling herself onto the container, grabbing her rifle from its magnetic holster on her back, ready to take aim but then she saw the creature’s claw inside Wei’s chest, its ghost-like appendage sucking the delicate nerve impulses from her body, its color growing
brighter
.

Skye momentarily froze.

A blue proton bullet ripped through the creature’s appendage. Cassy. He was focusing his fire on its claw. The Manteidos roared silently, its mandibles opening up as it pulled back, leaving its claw stuck inside Wei. The yellow claw faded, disappearing.

And Skye had her opening.

She ran forward, jumping over Wei, her eyes nervously glancing at the shield meter on the right lens of her glasses. 20%. There was no turning around now.
It’s glory either way, girl.

She slammed into the Specter. Her shield protected her body, pushing against the creature and knocking it off the edge of the container. Her shield status turned red, blinking furiously; she ignored it, aiming her rifle at the Specter as it floated to the ground below. Three of its wings unfolded. Its legs jittered.

Skye squeezed the trigger and held it, letting the force of each blast pull the barrel upward. Proton bullets cut diagonally across its body, slicing it clean in half.

And then it was gone. The last few proton bullets hit the concrete floor, leaving small circular burn marks.

Gabriel was still screaming his sister’s name. Skye turned back and hurried to the girl, mentally preparing herself for the sight of such a young death. Gray skin. A look of terror frozen on her little face.

But instead Wei’s face was calm, her eyes closed. Her skin’s color hadn’t drained. Skye ran a shaky finger across the girl’s cheek, distrusting her own eyes. The girl’s skin was smooth, pale as milk.

She’s still alive!

“Come on, kid,” she said, grabbing the girl’s arm. “Cassy, keep an eye on the entrance!”

Ben and Gabriel stood under the shipping container, perfect twins of duality. Tears streamed down Gabriel’s cheeks. Sweat lined his forehead. His hands were held up, shaking, his fingers twitching with an ache to touch his sister’s clammy skin. Ben stood stoic with both arms outstretched, his face fixed in a look of grim determination. Skye hung Wei over the edge, intentionally leaning Wei toward Ben so that the Athenian could cradle her head.

Ben would know what to do. Skye didn’t know why she knew it, but somehow she just knew. Ben could save Wei.

They laid her on the floor. “Give me some room,” Ben stated. It was a forceful tone, not one he’d used yet and it surprised Skye. She admired the tone — it was strong enough to convince Gabriel step back a meter and do his pacing out of Ben’s way.

Skye jumped down beside Cassy. She put a hand on his shoulder. “You did well.”

“I should have been watching our six,” he said.

“No. The Sebecus Specter was the direct threat. That thing . . . I shot it in the Phenocyte lab and then it went through the far wall. And then . . .” Images of the human Specter flooded her mind. A man in Specter form. A ghost.

They’re not ghosts.

She’d killed it with two proton bullets and it had broken apart just like any other Specter. Except this one had been human.

Tahlia knelt beside Wei, removing from her utility belt a shiny silver medical scissors, most likely never used before this moment. Tahlia unstrapped the front of Wei’s Ecosuit and cut away her white undershirt, then pressed two fingers to the girl’s soft neck. With her other hand, Tahlia took off her glasses, holding them over Wei’s mouth.

Air steamed the lenses.

“What are you doing?” Gabriel asked frantically. “What are you doing to her?”

Skye reached out before he could get closer, grabbing the collar of his suit.

“I’m going to check her internal organs,” Ben said calmly, punching a command into his medscanner device. “And then we’re going to get her inside the Tumbler so I can run a more thorough brain scan.”

“Is she dead?” Reza asked. He was trying to get closer, too, but his big sister had managed to limp her way over during the carnage and had an arm around her brother’s shoulder. She was thankfully quiet for once. Skye had no patience for anything but seriousness now. A life was on the line. Lives had been on the line ever since they investigated the supply depot, but now it seemed unfair. Of all the people who might die, Wei seemed the most unlikely. There was no justice in this — she’d avoided danger. She’d been protected every step of the way. She was the most fragile.