Until We Break (16 page)

Maya sighed. Her mentor was right, and they both knew it. She had no choice but to accept for the sake of all mankind. “All right. I’ll do it.”

Freya gave her a smile that said she understood her pain and appreciated her willingness to rise above it for the greater good. “Thank you, Maya.”

“Don’t—” She wanted to put on a cheerful, gung-ho face, but she just didn’t have it in her. “Don’t mention it,” she said weakly.

* * *

Later, Maya went to see Ev in the infirmary. He was still the same; stable, yet unresponsive. Even though he was unconscious, she explained the situation to him. “And so they want me to help secure peace with Zero Grade. Even though I didn’t want to, I said I would. This is very important, Ev. Millions of lives could be saved if I do this.   “I say that, but I’m terrified you won’t forgive me. They destroyed your life, they murdered your mother. What would you think of me if you were awake now? Would you hate me?” Her emotional control was beginning to break down as was evidenced by her cracking voice. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you hating me. You’re my light, Ev. Please, if you ever wake up, please understand why I did this. I know this is selfish, but please don’t hate me.”

If somewhere he heard her, if he understood, he did not show it. He remained impassive. She had no choice but to live with that, with the doubt that hung over her. She decided to push aside the thought that by doing this she might lose him forever. It was a thought she couldn’t face right now.

She kissed him and left the infirmary.

Chapter XII

The next morning, Maya arrived at the president’s private airfield at Vinguard International Airport. Joe Lambda’s plane,
Vinguard 1
, was being prepped for takeoff.

After a thorough, but pointless, pat-down outside the plane—they couldn’t take away any weapons she possessed and they all knew it—she was brought forward to meet the Morovian president. He was flanked by soldiers wearing the robotic armor they had seen in Adlo. She had hoped to never see Zero Grade’s technology again, but since it was not in their hands, she supposed she couldn’t complain.

“So you’re the bodyguard,” Lambda said as they shook hands. He sounded doubtful about her abilities.

“Maya Brünhart. I’m just a student, really,” she replied.

“As I told Bethos, my security detail is more than capable of handling any problems that pop up.”

“I’m sure they’re capable,” she said. “But President Bethos is concerned about an attack in mid-air. Those suits can’t fly, can they?”

“That’s classified,” a middle-aged man to his right said.

“Easy, Cid. I think we can trust them.” He turned his attention back to her. “No, they can’t fly. They have all the strength and speed of gods, but none of the other abilities.”

“Well,
I
can. If they attack from the air, I’m the best chance you have of fighting them off.” She neglected to mention the fact she’d never fought in mid-air. She inwardly smirked at the man called Cid as she thought,
That’s classified, jerk
.

An amber-skinned woman approached Lambda and said, “We’re ready to take off, sir.”

“Thank you, Lyra. Right this way, Miss Brünhart.”

Maya was escorted onto the plane, which looked even bigger on the inside. It had several floors and enough seating for hundreds of people. It also had a full kitchen,
wi-fi
, and a small movie room. Talk about traveling in style. A girl could get used to this, she thought.

Lambda gave her the full tour as the pilots did some last-minute checks. When it was over, she said, “This is all very impressive. But do you really trust Zero Grade?”

He frowned. “You know them better than I do. Do
you
trust them?”

“You want my honest opinion? No. I don’t. I’ve seen what they’re capable of. You and Bethos might trust them not to attack this plane, but with all due respect, I think you’re letting your desire for peace get in the way of logic. To be perfectly blunt, the chances of us all dying today are very good.”

“I know,” he said somberly. “I know we’re taking a big risk here, and I’m sorry a kid like you got dragged into it. But I believe some things are worth risking your life for, and, as the leader of this country, I have to be prepared to take those risks. That’s what I was elected for.”

She had to admit, she was really starting to like this guy. “Just as long as you understand.”

* * *

They took their seats, and the plane took off towards the Faust Kingdom. Maya had a deep sense of unease all throughout the flight.

Mid-way through, her fears were confirmed.

Hello, Maya
. Someone was speaking to her via telepathy. Someone she didn’t know.

Who is this?

My name is Athena
.

A bolt of alarm shot through her, but she managed to keep her cool.
What does a member of the Flawless Few want with me?

I wanted to warn you. We’re serious about peace, but an uknown group is heading your way. They’re dressed like us, but they’re not us.

What? Tell me you’re joking
.

I don’t joke. It’s beneath me. We’ve dispatched a force to intercept the renegades, but they won’t be in time to save you. You and Joe Lambda’s cadre of stolen exo-suits will have to fight them off on your own. I don’t need to tell you that if Lambda is killed, Morovia will never agree to peace. Fight, Maya Brünhart. Fight with your entire being.

Maya clenched her fists.
Fine. We’ll fight them off and protect President Lambda.
      

Your resolve is admirable, Maya. But you’ll need much more than that to secure peace.

And with that, she was gone.

She got up to warn Lambda, but Exodus Squad wouldn’t let her in to his private room. She explained that enemies were coming in, and they needed to make sure he stayed in there. One of them—apparently the leader—said, “Understood. A1 through A4, fan out and watch the exits and windows. The rest of us will stay with the President.”

Maya went to the windows and looked out. She couldn’t see anything other than the occasional cloud and the plane’s fighter escorts.

Suddenly, though, a dark figure flew up from behind and landed on the canopy of one of the jets. He looked like a Zero Grade croney—complete with three-piece suit—but Athena had said this mysterious group wasn’t affiliated with them.

The suit smashed through to the cockpit and yanked out the pilot before tossing him to the great abyss below. Another suit did the same to the jet on their other wing. Both aircraft fell out of the sky.

The assailants then flew over to
Vinguard 1
and hovered just outside the door. Maya had a pretty good idea of what they intended.

The Exodus Squads engaged something on the bottom of their metal shoes, and there was an electrical noise. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Magnetic clamps,” they explained. “It’ll keep us from flying out in case—”

The door was suddenly ripped off, resulting in explosive decompression. A deafening roar drowned out all other noises as everything that wasn’t nailed down was expelled. Lacking the magnetic clamps of Exodus Squad, Maya was instantly hurled out of the aircraft. She found herself in freefall, flailing her limbs because her panicked mind couldn’t remember how to fly.

She forced herself to calm down and took several breaths. The secret to flying came back to her, and she propelled herself up towards the plane.

Seeing several enemies on the roof, that’s where she went. Exodus Squad could handle things inside the plane, she hoped. She landed several yards away from the hostiles who had come to destroy any chance for peace. Summoning her bow, she quickly took aim and fired off several arrows.

But the fierce winds and speed of
Vinguard 1
made aiming nearly impossible. The arrows flew ridiculously wide of their targets, and the suits laughed at her. She abruptly realized just how in over her head she was, and how badly Bethos had miscalculated here.

* * *

He had no idea how long he had been adrift in darkness. It must have been an eternity. He couldn’t even remember what it had been like before. He felt as if he had forgotten important things, but maybe it was better that way. For some reason, it felt like these things should remain forgotten.

But he abruptly became aware of a strange sensation, like an alarm going off. He didn’t know how, but he knew someone, somewhere, needed his help. Who was this person? He—no,
she
—was very important to him; he was certain of that. But what was her name? CiCi? No, that wasn’t it. Freya? Try again. M—M…Maya! That was it! Maya! How could he have forgotten about her? She was the most precious thing in the world to him, and she was in trouble. He couldn’t sit around in this dark void while the light of his world was extinguished.

He began thrashing about in the darkness, willing his body to get the hell out of there.
Your light is waiting for you! Get out there and save her!

* * *

The two suits attacked Maya together. Using her bow as a club, she bashed the first one upside the head, and he staggered for a moment. But the other one delivered a swift kick to her stomach and she lost her footing. She went rolling across the roof of the plane towards the aft section.

She utilized her god strength and dug her hands deep into the fuselage. Then, once she had gotten her equilibrium back, she stood up and aimed her bow at the nearest enemy. She switched to her manual arrows and let one fly. It, too, went wide, but she was able to readjust its trajectory and flew it into the suit.

Unfortunately, she still couldn’t fully control it under these conditions, and it only got him in the shoulder. His mouth opened in surprise before he ripped it free and gave her a murderous look.

Both enemies advanced on her. She didn’t have time to direct another manual arrow at them, so she switched to her freeze arrows and shot them at their feet. A surface of ice immediately rose up, freezing them in place. They struggled, but it was futile; she had designed those arrows herself with pride, and trash like them could never break free from it.

She considered switching to her acid arrows next, but decided against it; they might damage the plane, and they were unnecessary, anyway. She simply walked up to them and kicked their frozen feet, resulting in them being smashed free from their bodies. The suits cried out as they went flying past her, but she could hear nothing save the roar of the wind.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but was immediately tackled from behind. She dug into the plane, rolled onto her back, and saw several more scumbags in fancy business suits standing over her. One of them bent down and began throttling her. She tried to pry his hands from her throat, but he was stronger than the others she’d fought, and she wasn’t particularly skilled in hand-to-hand combat to begin with.