Don’t do it, Tater, I silently begged. You don’t have to do this.
The buzzing got louder. Tater’s eyebrows drew together as he touched the sharp edge to my skin.
“Do it!” Vahni shouted.
The ground beneath our feet rocked as a bright flash lit the sky. For a moment it looked like daylight, and then a sound I’d heard once before in my life assaulted my ears. It was a sound I still had nightmares about. Like the rumbling of an earthquake while a train crashed at top speed.
The sound of a bomb.
Terror glowed in Vahni’s eyes as she turned toward the plume of flames and smoke coming from the other side of base. For a moment I was stunned and stared too. It had to be the palace. All the children . . . little Milna.
“Angels!” Kelsey yelled. We all looked where she was pointing, up at the sky, and I gasped, freaked out at the sight of white, round things floating down. Then my heart leapt. Parachutes!
The last thing I heard before hell broke loose was the knife slipping from Tater’s fingers as he fell to his knees with a thunk, grabbing his head and letting out a low yell that split the air.
Amber
Oh, my God! As glad as I was to see the ground, it was coming at us way too fast! This could not be normal.
Hit the ground running, they said. More like sprinting. Josh had to let go of my waist to reach up and grab the handles to guide us. I braced myself as we touched down, and tried to take spritely, fast steps to keep from tripping or twisting an ankle. I let Josh take the brunt of the weight, like he told me to.
“Nice!” he whispered.
And then I heard the gunshots.
Josh did exactly what the troopers in front of us had done. When we came to a stop, he released our cords and we sprinted low into the corn field. The next thing floating down wasn’t a person, but a trunk with weapons, ammo, and my med bag. When it was nearly at the ground, Josh and Tex, who had miraculously made a perfect landing, ran out and grabbed the handles, jogging awkwardly into the corn.
Screams and gunshots were getting louder. Somewhere amid that madness were Tater and Remy.
“We have to hurry!” I said. Tex grunted as he wrenched the stuck latch open and I grabbed my bag, flinging it across my chest, along with a gun. They both grabbed as many as they could carry, and we ran toward the sounds. Corn leaves smacked my face in the near darkness. The sky had taken on a spooky, smoky glow.
Behind us, paratroopers landed and ran our direction, but every second felt like time wasted. We had to get there faster! We sprinted past a large cart filled with hay, and I could see a break in the stalks ahead—a clearing. My heart hammered against my rib cage when I saw people sprinting past, more gunfire splitting the air.
A Baelese woman shouted, “Stop!” and the human male in sight of us came skidding to a shaky halt, his whole demeanor going from tense to slack. I was so thankful for my ear plugs. Josh put out his arm to stop me, and he poked his gun through the stalks, taking aim as the Baelese woman pointed her gun at the human who’d been running. Josh shot before she did, and the female soldier let out a gargled sound as she collapsed, writhing.
Tex ran to the human man, and gave him a hard shake. “Take this.” He pressed a gun into the man’s hands, and his eyes slowly cleared. He looked around, confused.
“We’re U.S. military. Either get yourself to safety or help us kill these bastards.”
The man’s mouth gaped for a second, and then he ran a hand over his face, nodding and standing taller, taking stock of his gun.
“Atta boy,” Tex said. He moved forward, motioning for me to stay behind him, and Josh took the rear.
In the clearing was chaos. U.S. soldiers came out of the stalks in a freaky wave. Most of the humans had scattered, chased by Baelese. But far head, by two hay bales, was a figure on its knees, grasping his head and rocking. I would recognize him anywhere.
“Tater!” I started to run to him, but Tex, grabbed my arm.
“Behind me!”
I forced myself to stay behind him as he moved forward, pointing his gun right, then left. I felt Josh right behind me. When we got to Tater, my heart was in my throat. What was wrong with him? Was he shot?
I started to bend down, but Tex grabbed him from under his arm.
“Not here in the open,” Tex said. “Let’s move him into one of these buildings.”
I got under the other arm, and we were able to drag him into the closest building. It had rows of bunk beds. Tex went through the room, looking for Baelese, and speaking to humans that he found hiding. Josh guarded the door while I fell to my knees next to my brother. He sat, leaning against the wall, his eyes shut. It was too dark in the room to make out details, but we didn’t want to turn on a light and alert the enemy.
“Are you shot? Hurt?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tater!” I patted his cheek. “Open your eyes!”
He did, blearily, but looked unfocused.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked.
“Amber Maria Tate,” he whispered. A disgusting sensation filled my belly. Why did he sound so formal?
“Actually, it’s Fite now,” I said. He didn’t react and the feeling inside me worsened. I’d met others who acted like this, and I didn’t want to believe it.
“We are under attack,” he whispered.
“Attack? Tater, it’s us. We’re taking back the base.”
“I . . .” He flinched and grabbed his head, pulling up his knees. “I am to obey the Baelese.”
Oh, shit . . .
“What’s wrong with him?” Josh asked from the doorway.
“He’s got the fucking worm,” I told him.
Now it was Josh’s turn to curse. I shook all over as I reached for my bag, fumbling with the zipper. “It’s okay, Tater. I’ll fix you.”
My brother. My poor Tater. That thing in his head. I wanted to puke as I remembered what the humans in Alaska had gone through when I took them out. But it had to be done. I found the rectangular device and pulled it out.
“You have to stay very still,” I told him. “This is going to hurt.”
I held the device to his forehead and pressed the button hard with my thumb. It took a few seconds before Tater’s back arched and he let out a terrible sound. He pushed me, and I pressed forward, sitting on his bucking knees, but he shoved me and bucked.
“I need help holding him down!”
Tex and a human male and female rushed over, grabbing him and sitting on parts of him. I used all of my strength to help hold him down and keep the device in place. Another man came over and grasped his head. It was a painfully slow process, his shouts of pain killing me every second. I let out a cry of relief when the bloodied metal tip became visible from his nostril. I dropped the magnetic device, and pinched the tip of the worm with my fingers, yanking it out and throwing it. Josh gave it a hard stomp.
Tater’s body began to seize, and I leaned over him, taking his face.
“It’s okay,” I murmured. “You’re going to be okay. Look at me.”
I held his face hard, and he slowly stilled.
“Amb,” he whispered groggily.
I let out a sob and pulled him into my arms. He was sweating and limp. Tex helped him sit up.
“I’m here,” I said.
His arms went around me, and I held him tight, feeling lighter as his embrace strengthened.
“What . . .” he whispered. “Oh, God, my fucking head.”
“I know,” I said. “Listen. We’re all here. We’re taking back this base. Everything is going to be all right.”
“Tex.” Tater turned his sweaty head to peer at his friend.
“Right here, bud.”
“Where the fuck is my weapon?”
I shook my head as Tex and Josh both laughed.
Tex pulled a rifle over his shoulder and pressed it into Tater’s hands. We stood, unsteady, and Tater wiped his nose, sniffing and grimacing. I knew what he wasn’t saying—that he had a kill
er migraine, like the others had—but I doubted he was going to let it stop him.
“Where is Remy?” he asked, making my heart jump.
“I haven’t seen her yet,” I admitted, hoping like hell that she was okay.
“We need to find her,” he whispered.
Running steps approached from outside and Josh reported, “It’s Sean and Carmen.”
Sean was one of the head officers for this operation. Josh waved them in.
Sean squinted into the dimness. “Is that Tate?”
“Yes, sir,” Tater said, sounding pained.
“Holy shit.” Sean stuck out his hand and they shook, then the officer looked at me. “There’s another room like this, with beds, just across the way, and we have three injured in there. Can you head over?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “Any sign of Remy out there?”
Sean shook his head.
“I’ll take Amber,” Josh said. “How many more of the enemy are out there?”
“We’ve got most of them holed up in the big warehouse building,” he told us. “But they’re using voice control to make the humans surround them as shields and fire at anyone who tries to come through the door. We’re going to have to surround the building from all sides and try to cause a skirmish in the front while we break in through the back.”
“Aw, yeah,” Tex said with a dirty chuckle. “I’ll go in from the back side any day.”
Carmen gave him a glare, and he grinned at her with his scruffy beard as Josh snickered.
Sean, always the professional, didn’t react, but what he said next sobered Tex right up. “They’ve got a bunch of kids in there too, man. Armed kids under voice control.”
Silence rose in the room as our horror set in. Using kids was low, and it made the mission much more delicate.
“Fuck the back side,” Tex said. “Let’s get our asses on the roof and pick ’em off from above.”
Sean nodded. “There’s a thought. Let’s see what we can do.”
Before I could ask how the hell they planned to do that, Sean gave a motion for them to follow. Tex left weapons with the humans, along with a handful of ear plugs, and Josh cocked his head for me to follow. Carmen grabbed my hand as she passed and we both squeezed, wishing each other luck.
But before Tater could leave my sight again, I wrapped my arms around his waist for a quick hug.
“It’s good to see you,” he whispered. “You have no idea.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” I told him. “Be safe, okay?”
“Yeah.” He started to pull away when he looked at me, suddenly aware. “Wait . . . was I dreaming or did I hear you say your name was Fite?”
“Tate, come on,” Officer Sean called.
I smiled. “Yeah. Mrs. Fite. Now go on. We’ll talk soon.”
He smiled back, just a small one, but it was enough to boost me with a shot of pure joy before we parted.
Remy
When everyone had scattered, I grabbed Kelsey and ran, following Linette to the barn. To my complete shock and awe, I watched Linette jump on a Baelese male’s back as he cornered two humans, hold on to his waist with her thighs and use her entire upper body and all her weight to snap his neck with a ferocious yell. That’s right. Linette killed an alien with her bare hands. When he crumpled in a heap, she slung his rifle over her head and grabbed a handgun from his waist, sliding it toward me through the dirt.
“Go!” She pointed to the barn.
I squatted, setting down Kelsey to grab the gun, then took the girl by the hand and ran into the barn. I took her to the farthest stall and set Kelsey in a corner filled with hay.
“I need you to sit and be very still and very quiet, okay, sweetie?” As she sat, her back in the corner, I piled hay around her. “It’s going to be like hide-and-seek. You stay hidden until I come get you.”
“Don’t leave me,” she said in her tiny voice.
“I’m going to be right here, keeping watch,” I promised. Then I thought of something. Voice control. I grabbed the edge of my dress, the part of the seam that was about to unravel, and I tore. Small strips ripped off, and I bunched them with my fingers, wetting them with saliva.
“Let’s put these in your ears,” I told her. Kelsey was a good sport. She let me do it, pressing the cloth as far in as I could, and then piling more hay around her.
My whole body was trembling as I finished covering her and went to the stall’s door to watch and listen. I balled up tiny strips of cloth and wet them pushing them into my ears and praying it would work. Through the cloth, I heard muffled running and shouting, and gunfire ringing out, making me jump. When footsteps got too close, I cowered into my stall door, peeking through a crack to see Linette.
“Psst!” I said, waving my arm. She ran over and I gave her to two pieces of cloth, pointing to my ears.
She nodded, grinning wickedly, and grabbed them from me, then went into the stall beside me. I looked down at my gun, checking to make sure the safety was off. I’d never been good with guns. When I was at Dugway, the guys tried to teach me, using blanks in a makeshift underground range. My main issues were that I always closed my eyes in anticipation of the noise as I pulled the trigger, and I couldn’t hold it steady when I shot. My arms always jerked upward. So I never once hit the target. It was laughable.
Almost as laughable as my ability to hear somebody coming.
The stall door beside me suddenly burst open and a female voice yelled, “Freeze!” followed immediately by a shot, and Linette’s shout of pain. A loud clatter sounded as if her rifle had been dropped, then a sliding sound.
I covered my mouth. It was Vahni. Oh, my gosh. She was in Linette’s stall. Had Linette not had time to put her ear plugs in? Mine seemed to be working. I glanced over at Kelsey’s pile of hay, and she was very still. She had to be terrified.
Please, don’t let her make a sound.
In the darkness, I tried to survey what was around me. The stall wall between us went all the way to the ground, but was only about six feet high. Beside me was a water trough, and a wooden bucket for feed. Very slowly, I bent and felt inside the bucket. It was empty.
“I saw you come in here,” Vahni said to Linette. “And I had to follow. Do you know why? Because I admire you. In a society of weakling females, you are strong. A rare find. Both mind and body, very much like a Baelese female. So, tell me. How were you able to communicate with the radio?”
Linette must have been under voice control, because she robotically began to chronicle every detail from when she received the radio. I had to do something. Using painstakingly slow movements, I turned the bucket upside down. I was glad for my soft, slipper-like shoes as I placed them silently on the bucket and stood. Keeping my breathing under control was a feat of its own. I straightened enough to peek over the edge with just my eyes.
Linette was on the ground, leaning against the wall. Blood had soaked her shirt from the shoulder, all the way down. It looked bad. Linette had to see me from where she was, but she never once glanced up at me or did anything to give me away.
Her rifle was close to Vahni, as though the Baelese woman had slid it over with her foot. Vahni was about four feet away, her rifle pointed as Linette spoke.
I’d never shot anyone, or any thing for that matter. But I raised my gun and balanced it on the edge of the wall, pointing it downward and aiming. Not a single part of my body was not shaking. I’d begun to sweat from obscure places, like the backs of my knees.
“Fascinating,” Vahni breathed as Linette concluded. “How could you stomach living among your kind, surrounded by mediocrity? They could not possibly have appreciated you in a society that values feminine frailty.”
“I used to think like that,” Linette whispered. “But you shouldn’t underestimate the soft ones. I did, and I was wrong.”
“Do not be ridiculous,” Vahni said.
“They’re like mama bears,” Linette told her. “When their claws come out—”
I shot. Just l
ike always, my eyes automatically clamped shut at the last second, and I stumbled, nearly falling off the bucket.
Then I heard Linette say, “Took you long enough.”
I pulled myself back to standing and peered over, heart racing. Vahni was on the ground, her head surrounded by a pool of darkness. I let out a shocked whimper as Linette pushed to her feet. She peered up at me, and in the dimness I saw the whites of her teeth as she smiled.
And then she fell.
“Oh, my God!” I jumped from the bucket and rushed out of my stall, running into hers. I leapt over Vahni’s body and knelt next to Linette. She still had a pulse, so she must have passed out. She’d lost a lot of blood, and I had no idea what to do. I reached for the bottom of my dress and tore off a larger strip, then balled it up and pressed it to her wound, holding my hand hard over it.
Through my muffled ears I heard footsteps coming nearer, and I pulled Linette into the corner, trying to keep pressure on. At the same time, from across the camp I heard a series of shots and voices. Something big was going on near the warehouse. The footsteps got to the barn and I held Linette’s wound with one hand while my other hand pointed my gun at the doorway.
“U.S. Marines!” I heard someone yell just as a dark figure appeared around the corner brandishing a rifle.
“It’s me!” I stupidly shouted, as if they’d know who I was.
But the deep voice said, “Remy?” and my heart jumped.
I squinted, making out his tall shape. “Devon?” A sound of elation ripped from my chest, something between a laugh and a sob.
“It is you—hot damn!” He stepped over Vahni and squatted beside us.
“Linette’s shot.”
“I got her.” He scooped Linette into his arms. “Follow me. Keep your gun out.” We stepped over the dead body. The body of the creature I killed. And for once in my life, I had no guilt.
“Kelsey!” I called. “You can come out!” Then I explained to Devon. “It’s a little girl.”
He nodded. I heard the shuffle of hay and patter of small feet running to me. I scooped her into my arms and held her tight. “You were so good.”
Together, we ran from the barn to the women’s dormitory, passing bodies. When we got to the door I recognized New York Josh, but there was no time to stop. We beamed at each other, and I rushed inside, looking around. I’d expected to see the younger girls, but they weren’t here. On the floor was a row of bodies, all bleeding from various places, and two medics working over them. The sight of brown waves, tanned skin, and efficient movements made everything inside me swell with joy. I immediately choked up.