MIRA!
This isn’t real, Jasper! Your feet aren’t really plastered to the floor.
I force my legs to move and race down the length of the train car, which inexplicably morphs into a bridge. Before I can process where I am, Regis runs at me and dives for my legs. I collapse to my knees and peer over the edge into the abyss below.
My breath catches in my throat. This is virtual. It isn’t really happening. Just push them out of your mind.
I squeeze my eyes shut and stand, willing myself not to see Regis when I blink them open.
I don’t. I’m not in Gulagaven anymore. I’m outside on the frozen tundra of Gulaga. It’s cold, and the light is fading. If I don’t get inside fast, I’ll freeze to death. The ground beneath me shifts and sways, and a slimy tendril loops around my leg and pulls me to the ground.
I struggle to get up. I’ve got to run. I dash across the tundra, heading for the cliff. Something isn’t right. I’ve been here before, but I wasn’t alone. I was with Mira. Regis stole her glove. We got caught out after curfew and nearly froze to death. We were rescued by Barrick and the rebels.
But we’re not on the tundra. We’re in the VR hall on Alkalinia.
Mira!
Mira!
“Mira!” I shout. “Mira, where are you?” I shake my head, trying to stop my brain from thinking I’m running across a field of slimers.
The light shifts from night to day, and the slimers grow into high grass. Up ahead a large, lithe cat limbers toward a river. In the distance a herd of beasts that look like woolly mammoths graze.
This is the Paleo Planet, which means—
A boulder flies through the sky and crashes on the ground in front of me.
I dodge a second rock, which grazes my shoulder and smashes behind me.
The ground trembles, and a low rumble sounds in the distance. A cloud of dust rises at the horizon. It whirls and swells in my direction. I can make out shapes in the dust cloud: a million charging wildeboars.
I spin and sprint in the opposite direction. The wildeboars close in from behind, but I skid to a stop. Ten meters ahead is a Youli. He extends his palm and reaches for my atoms.
“No! You’re not real! None of this is real!”
Think, Jasper! You’ve got to stop the VR program!
I squeeze my eyes shut. We’re not on the Paleo Planet, I tell myself. We’re in the VR hallway. We are still limited by the dimensions of the room. As long as I keep my eyes closed and keep telling myself that this is VR, I should be able to find the wall.
I stretch out my arms in front and walk forward. The pounding of the wildeboars’ hooves grows so loud I can barely hear myself think. My body braces for impact.
This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.
A few more steps. This hallway wasn’t that wide. Just keep going.
My left hand squishes into something. It must be the wall. I keep my eyes closed and follow the wall, hand over hand. I eventually reach the corner and palm over a few more paces. There’s a break in the material. Please let that be the door. I find the handle and push back the swinging door.
As soon as I do, the program stops. The orange walls return. In the middle of the hall Mira sits on the ground, curled in a ball.
I drop my blast pack to prop the door open and run to Mira’s side. Her hair is pulled out of its elastic. A shudder rips through her. She bends her head to her knees and gently rocks.
Even without the VR, I see her in the sensory gym at the space station. Regis just humiliated her in front of all the cadets. I stood up to him in front of everybody. That was one of the first times in my life that I was truly brave.
I place my hand on Mira’s shoulder, and she flinches.
“Mira,” I whisper, “we really need to go.”
She doesn’t respond. Another shudder rips through her.
I don’t think she had the same VR experience as me, but whatever it was, it must have been awful.
Mira. I lift her hand and lace our fingers together. The Youli are coming. Everyone’s counting on us. We need to deactivate the occludium tether.
She turns her head, and her brown eyes find mine. They’re filled with despair but also something else: determination.
She lets me help her up. We retrieve my pack and leave the VR hall. I decide to walk as far as I can without turning. Hopefully we can reach the far end of the Seat, trace the windows to the corner, and double back to reach the tube connection.
Soon we pass rooms like the ones we saw before with empty beds. Sure enough, they’re sleeping quarters. This time all the beds are filled with Alks—the scooter Alks, who don’t have cyborg arms. The Alks are hooked up to tubes that connect to small metal tables next to their beds. Could it be that they’re pumped with venom? Or some other substance that makes them compliant and unfeeling? That could explain a lot about their odd, indifferent behavior.
There’s no time to think about it. We make our way to the far wall and turn left. When we reach the corner, we turn left again and backtrack to the venom tube. It certainly wasn’t the quickest route, but at least we made it.
The hall is quiet. None of the Alks we saw yesterday are around. They must be sleeping like the others, which is a good thing. Even though they didn’t bother us, we don’t need to take any chances. Secrecy is our only advantage, the only chance that this mission is a success.
We pass the rows of labeled vats filled with venom and head for the tube. I pull back the door. I can see all the way across the open ocean, from the Alkalinian Seat to the saucer. All we have to do is cross it and take down the tether.
I stand at the foot of the tube with a groggy Mira by my side. When we first spotted the tube over a week ago, we had no idea what it was for, no clue that the thick yellow goop that flows through the pipe is one of the most valuable substances on the galactic black market: Alkalinian venom, milked from thousands of baby Alks on the other side of this tube.
The tube’s clear plastic walls hold back the open ocean. Who knows how many metric tons of water threaten to crush that tube and everything in it? But I can’t think about that now. I have to do this.
Let’s go. I squeeze Mira’s hand and take a tentative step into the tube. Her hand slips from my grasp.
“Hey!” I turn to Mira. Her eyes are closed.
Great. She’s nearly asleep on her feet again. She recovered from the VR nightmare only to slip back into venom-induced narcolepsy.
I shake her arm. “Mira! Wake up!”
Her eyes blink into focus, and she nods.
“We’re at the venom tube. We need to move! Quickly!”
I tug Mira through the door and into the tube, then take off running. The door clangs shut, and the noise reverberates through the tube. The vibrations send a ripple through the water beyond.
So much water. Way too much water. I take a deep breath and focus on placing one foot in front of the next.
Just keep moving, Jasper. Everyone’s counting on you.
Mira struggles to keep my pace. She shakes free of my hand, and when I glance back, she’s fallen behind.
“Hurry, Mira!” The tube echoes with my shouts, and I shudder. It’s brain-talk from now on.
I should stop for her, but I can’t. One of us needs to make it to the end of this tube.
And I can’t handle the water. It’s pressing me down, collapsing my lungs, making it impossible to breathe.
Must. Not. Hyperventilate.
I block out the water as best I can and push on.
The plastic walls of the tube are clear, but the reflection from the venom gives them a sickly yellow cast, like looking through a filter. I can’t believe the Alks have been poisoning us with this stuff. According to Serena, in small quantities the venom causes sleep, muscle fatigue, even temporary paralysis. In larger doses it can kill within seconds. Mixed with other ingredients it can be a powerful medicine. To the Alkalinians, it’s currency.
But it comes at an awful price. It comes at the lives of Serena’s children, because something obviously happens to them after they’ve served their purpose. I don’t know if the Alks kill them or if they die off, but I know they’re not moving from writhing snake pit to minithrones. Clearly, that’s not the future for those tiny snakes we saw earlier today. It seems like the only Alks Seelok leaves alive are his entourage and the scooter workers.
Up ahead one of those nasty sea creatures glides through the water, heading straight for the tube. Its black, iridescent skin reflects the yellowish light. Its tail curves through the water, propelling it closer every second. I try not to look.
Thump! It whacks the tube.
The creature crests the tube and doubles back. In a terrible instant its black eyes lock with mine. I can’t break its gaze. It opens its mouth to reveal enormous, glistening silver fangs.
I shake my head and run.
Thump! It glides above me.
Thump! Thump! Two more sea creatures circle the tube.
I’m only halfway across. I’ve got to pick up the pace. Behind me, Mira has fallen even farther back.
Mira! Let’s go!
She glances up and pushes forward, but her movements are floppy. She weaves from the venom pipe to the edge of the tube and back again.
Maybe it was a mistake to bring her.
No! If she’d stayed in the room, she would have been there for the taking once the Youli arrive.
The Youli . . . I sprint even faster. Up ahead more of the sea creatures dive and spin around the venom tube, lashing the plastic with their muscular tails. Mira and I must be attracting them.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The tube shakes with the thunderous force of the impacts. I hope those creatures don’t damage the tube. If this thing cracks while we’re in it, that will be the end of us.
I glance behind me. Mira is barely walking. She balances her weight against the venom pipe.
More creatures swim to the tube, diving and swirling and lashing their tails.
Then the water swirls with a strong current, and the tube rocks on its foundation. I’m thrown against the plastic barrier and onto my knees.
What’s happening? Did the tube dislodge from the seafloor?
The sea creatures glide away and swim together toward the saucer, clearing the view outside the tube. I project their course to see what’s caught their attention. A large silver sphere bobs in the water just beyond the occludium tether.
Gripping the venom pipe, I pull myself up and stare at the sphere, trying to understand what I’m seeing. It’s familiar but out of place.
Oh my God. That’s a Youli ship!
Mira! The Youli! Run!
I race for the end of the tube and disengage the latch. The door swings open. I drop my pack and brace the tube door, then I dash inside. Once Mira gets here, we’ll run up the stairs to the generator room.
Or even faster, we’ll bound there. We’ll be outside of the tether range.
I return to my pack and pull out the voice box with my stuck glove. As I wait for Mira, I inspect the box and try to free my glove.
A hiss from behind makes me jump. I brace and spin, ready to force my way through whatever Alkalinian threat awaits.
Serena slides in front of me and hisses into the voice box.
“What are you doing here? Where are your friends?”
I keep trying to free my glove. “I can’t talk, Serena. I’m in a real rush.”
Serena lifts her head and gazes through the doors into the venom tube. “What are those creatures?”
I glance back. The black sea creatures have returned to the tube. They twirl and spin and whack against the thick walls. The water swells and shakes the foundation. Another Youli vessel must have bounded in.
Mira is still a hundred meters from the end of the tube, and she’s not moving fast. It will take too long for her to cross. I have to get the tether down now. I need to do it alone.
I reach out with my mind. Mira, I’m going to deactivate the tether. Wait for me!
Jumbled emotions come back from Mira. I can tell she’s about to protest. But then there’s the sense of resignation. The Youli are here. We’re out of options.
Serena slips past me into the tube.
I can’t get my glove free, and I can’t waste any more time trying. I lift the voice box to my mouth and turn it to full volume. “Hey, Serena! Keep Mira safe, okay?”
I don’t wait for an answer. Plus, Serena is already deep into the tube. I shove the voice box with my trapped glove back into my pack and take off running.
I race up the stairs to the systems center and down the hall to the generator room, then dash across to the hatch that connects to the narrow shaft that descends to the occludium tether.
From the nearby windows I have a better view of what’s happening, and it’s not good. Six Youli vessels wait just beyond the tether range.
Make that seven.
The arrival of the seventh ship sends a strong current rippling through the water. The shaft sways and pulls against the anchored bubble holding the occludium tether.
Please hold. Please. Just a few minutes longer.
Meanwhile, Mira has covered a lot of distance in the venom tube. Serena has nearly reached her. All around them the black sea creatures swarm.
From the Alkalinian Seat, a Frog pops out of the loading tube, with another close behind. They scuttle toward the Youli vessels with their tow cables ready to rig.
I don’t have much time. I have to take down that tether and trust that Lucy and Addy have called for Earth Force backup.
I disengage the hatch and prepare to descend the shaft.
Wait . . . there’s motion at the other end of the venom tube. Someone else is in there and moving fast.
Is that an Alk? Is he coming for Mira?
No, that’s no Alk.
That’s Addy.