Eva stood in the middle of Times Square, in the bustle of the hot summer night. Crazy sights and sounds surrounded her—people brushing past, snapping photos and laughing, but it was all just background noise. The news of the jet explosion still echoed in her ears, the shock still fresh, although she’d been told hours ago. Even late at night, there were thousands of people here, but she felt completely alone. Just like that, quick as you could click your fingers, the jet had crashed down into a city street and changed everything.
And Sam? Where is he? Eva was anxious. Sam hadn’t been seen since he fell into the tunnels beneath the museum.
Lora appeared next to her. ‘Our pick-up is within the hour.’
Eva nodded. She studied Lora, who never stopped watching the people around them, always alert. Lora had explained this was a good place to hide because of the crowds.
‘Are you OK?’ Eva asked.
‘I’m fine,’ Lora said, fiddling nervously with the bandage around her arm.
‘I mean, you were unconscious. Don’t you think you should—’
‘I’m not going to wait around in some hospital,’ Lora said, ‘when Sam, Tobias and Alex are out there somewhere.’
Eva nodded, appreciating Lora’s sentiment. She’s not that much older than me, but she seems so protective—like an older sister. Lora made eye contact with her. There were tears streaking silently down her face. Sebastian had been her boyfriend, after all. Eva had known him—and the rest of them—for only three days. Three days … in such a short time she’d been told that she was a true Dreamer, and that a race was on to find thirteen special Dreamers who could not only dream things that were true but were somehow part of an ancient prophecy to save—
‘We have to move!’ Lora said. Before Eva could blink, she was dragged across the street and led down to a subway station, Lora pushing hard through the masses, leaving protesters in their wake.
‘Quick!’ she said, vaulting the turnstiles and pulling Eva through the closing doors of the subway carriage. Lora watched the platform until it was left far behind them.
‘What was it?’ Eva asked as the train rattled along the tunnel. It took a moment for Lora to answer. Eva could tell that Lora was at once full of rage and sadness.
‘Enterprise Agents,’ Lora replied. ‘They’re still tracking us. We have to ditch them before we get our lift back to the Academy.’
Eva and Lora got out at Grand Central Terminal and walked through another throng of people, exiting against the flow of the late-night crowd leaving the city after dinners and shows.
Lora pulled out her phone whilst she hailed a taxi.
‘Do you think they’re gone?’ Eva asked.
‘No, they’re still out there,’ Lora said. She told the driver to take them to the airport.
‘Are we safe?’
‘We’re never completely safe, Eva. Not from the Enterprise and certainly not from Solaris. You have to remember that, OK?’ Her call connected and she began to speak into the phone. It was the Professor. ‘She’s with me—have you heard from Tobias?’ There was a long pause as Lora listened. Eva looked out the window as they crossed a bridge over the East River.
Lora continued to talk, ‘Clearly with the prophecy coming true, our agreement with the Enterprise can no longer be relied on to … yes, Professor, I agree. And we’ve no other information so far about the woman? … I don’t think it was Solaris—taking down an aircraft like that. It doesn’t make sense. Seb wasn’t one of the last 13, why would he be a target? No, I think it was entirely that Agent’s idea. Maybe she was trying to prove something with that ruthless display, but to who? … I don’t know what to say, I can’t believe he’s gone.’ Lora’s voice cracked. She turned away as Eva reached over to take her hand. Lora pulled herself together and switched on the speaker function and held the phone between them. ‘Professor, Eva is here.’
‘Eva? Are you alright, my dear?’ the Professor said.
‘I’m OK,’ Eva said.
‘It’s been a terrible night,’ he said, ‘but we’ll get you home to us soon, stay strong. I’m just happy that Tobias had the foresight to send you on to the museum to meet Lora and Sam. We’re fortunate that your escort turned out to be on our side.’
‘But I’m so worried about Sam and Alex, and the others who are missing,’ Eva said. ‘Why did some of the Guardians turn on us?’
‘We know those Guardians were an elite group from Egypt—Lora spotted their scarab insignia at the museum. Now the race has begun, the Council think they might have another agenda, that they believe the world is best protected by preventing the prophecy from being fulfilled. That would explain why they destroyed the Dream Stele.’
‘And the helicopter?’ Eva gasped. ‘Could it have been them that tried to kill us by shooting down the helicopter?’
‘I think that’s a distinct possibility. But it’s going to be OK,’ Lora said, putting her arm around Eva’s shoulders. ‘We’ve got Guardians, ones we can trust, looking after us now. We can do this Eva, all of us. We’ll learn from this. We’re going to fight them with everything we have.’
But Sam’s the key to all of this and we don’t even know where he is or if he’s safe. What if we can’t do it without him?
Eva swallowed and summoned the courage to ask, ‘How do we have any hope of beating Solaris? I mean, if Sam is … if he’s gone, what chance do we have?’
‘Eva, we have no reason to believe that Sam isn’t still alive and well,’ Lora said. ‘He’s one of the last 13, it’s his destiny to see this through, and all the competing parties know that. No Sam, no race.’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised,’ the Professor said over the phone, a smile in his voice, ‘if right now, Sam was ploughing on with the race with the Star of Egypt in his back pocket, saving the world all on his own.’