“You freed me,” he interrupts. “From a dark machine. There was a tunnel. Darkness, all around.”
“You’re the guy from the generator back at the Academy,” I say. “From three nights ago. I didn’t know if you’d lived.” A smile breaks out on my face. I don’t mean it too. It fades as soon as I remember the events of the night. “Hey… what about Cassius?”
“He is with my friend,” the Drifter replies, his voice calm and low. “You are both safe. It’s lucky you found a senso-cube. It bought you some time.”
“That’s what that thing is? A senso-cube?”
He nods. “You and your brother were suspended in the air for nearly thirty minutes. Frozen, like statues.”
The thought makes me cringe, not only for the sheer weirdness of it, but for the thought of what Theo could have done to us in that time.
I glance toward the stars. The vessel of Ridium is gone. Theo’s disappeared.
The Drifter’s grip loosens around my midsection. “We are nearly on the Surface, now. My transport energy is beginning to fade. I won’t have many more flights left in me.”
The sun begins to rise over the mountains. Not enough to kill the darkness, but the sight captivates me. It’s been so long since I’ve been this high in the air. I used to witness sunrises like this every morning out my dorm window. I’ve been on the Surface too long.
Before I know it, the Drifter’s feet touch ground and he places me in the dirt. I lie there, trying to get my bearings. Only when I’m sure the earth won’t collapse underneath me do I stand.
Cassius stands beside a second Drifter. I pivot to scan the stark landscape. We’re back outside Lenbrg, right where Theo conjured that vessel of Ridium. I crane my neck and search the stars, past Skyships to the darkest part of the sky. He’s up there. He wanted to kill us.
Matigo’s son.
We have to stop him.
35
It isn’t long before I see the others come over the hill toward us. They must have seen the glow from the Drifters. Avery takes off at a sprint toward me, then wraps my torso in a tight embrace.
The second Drifter helps Cassius to his feet. We stand in a bubble of dim green, which is already starting to fade.
The Drifters tell us their names are Talan and Sem. Sem’s the one who plucked me from the sky, and speaks better English than Talan. The language processors in their Pearls vary in structure, he says. Some are damaged during transport, and others move more slowly to cater to individual brain functioning.
“Where have you been?” Avery clutches my arm. “By the time we headed outside, you guys were gone.”
“Theo’s escaped.” Cassius steps past her. “He’s Matigo’s son. He wants to kill us.”
Eva follows him. “Matigo has a son?”
Sem looks down at his fingers, watching the last of the Pearl energy drain from his body. “The boy’s shifting powers have been unlocked. He’s in control of Ridium now, just like his father. But he’s young. Inexperienced. We may be able to strike before he has a chance to do any major damage.”
I turn to face him. “How are we supposed to do that?”
Sem stares directly into my eyes. He looks strikingly like Ryel. “Pearl energy is the most powerful force we have. If we can knock him off balance, we’ll attack when he’s most vulnerable.” He sighs. “Talan and I are nearly dissolved of our energy. We won’t be much help in this regard.”
“But you’re talking to the Pearlbreaker.” Skandar moves beside me. “Jesse can get more Drifters.”
Sem extends his fingers. “Let me see your arm.”
I hold up my right hand. He grabs hold and pulls me closer. “Ridium, I see. Your father gave this to you?”
Cassius kicks the dirt before turning to face us again. “It was in the form of a box, at first. It melted and… and now we can’t get them off.”
“These are a problem in the hands of a Shifter like Theo.” Sem glances at Talan. “Though they might be something more.”
I swallow. “Ryel said that it could be programmed.”
“A Shifter can do many things with Ridium,” Sem says. “Not the least of which is programming. It’s possible that your parents coerced a Shifter to imbue these bracelets with a purpose.” He drops my hand.
I stare down at the blackness. “Like what?”
“That isn’t clear, but once a chunk of Ridium is given a purpose, it will follow its programming until another Shifter tells it otherwise. This could be a problem, or a blessing. Only time will tell.”
Cassius rubs his wrist. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
I let my hand fall to my side, forgetting about the bracelet for a moment. “Drifters. We need Drifters.”
Sem nods. “We must attack the boy, and soon. But we need all of the artillery we can get.”
“Okay.” I turn and face the distant mountains. I close my eyes so that nothing can distract me and work through the events of the past few days, considering my options. Allies and enemies, and everything in between. When I open them again, a single vision fills my mind. “Okay. I think I know what to do.” I turn back. “What’s the nearest Skyship?”
Eva shrugs. “There are a couple storage ships just south of the Canadian border.”
“No.” I ball my fist. “It needs to be one of the larger ones, but nothing with a heavy Tribunal presence.”
“Then Altair,” she replies. “Skyship Altair. Southeast of here.”
“What are you thinking, Jesse?” Avery’s eyes narrow.
Cassius smiles. “He’s thinking we need to steal some Pearls.”
“We’ve got two options,” I say. “Break into a Chosen or find a storage facility on one of the Skyships. We can’t just stand here waiting for Pearls to come to us. We need a lot of them, and quick.”
Eva frowns. “And what about Theo?”
Cassius curses under his breath. He clutches his bracelet and meets my eyes. “I’ll handle Theo. At least until you can break the Pearls.”
Sem moves to Talan’s side. “And we will do what we can to help. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to enjoy the benefits of flight for much longer. We’ll require use of your shuttle. But we can help organize any freed Drifters. We can make sure your efforts aren’t in vain.”
I nod. “Then let’s get this over with.”
Eva points back to the hill we’d come over. “Shuttle’s just past that point.”
Sem meets my eyes. “Lead the way, Pearlbreaker.”
– Two hours after dawn.
Skyship Altair hovers over the Idaho/Montana border. It’s far enough from either coast to be much of a government stronghold. Eva says she’s heard it’s mainly a recreation and business center. Not a lot of money stored onboard, but given its size, it’ll need a plentiful amount of Pearls to keep it airborne. This will be our target.
The sun beams in every window of our shuttle. The Fringes are bound to be baking, even this early in the morning.
Cassius sits in the pilot’s seat. “So that room we saw, with Matigo and his lieutenant. That was a memory?”
Sem nods. “A reconstruction. Important events are stored in senso-cubes on Haven. The Authority controls all of the planet’s history. I suspect that particular cube was stolen.”
“I found it in Ryel’s pocket,” I say.
Sem’s brows raise. “If he was indeed a pilot with the Authority, I suppose he would have had the opportunity to grab a cube before joining the Resistance. Usually they’re simple to trigger, but Matigo likely had security in place on that cube. You were lucky it managed to activate in the air. Perhaps due to the vast amount of Ridium above it.”
Cassius brings us back level. “Any tips on Theo?”
The Drifter frowns. “Don’t underestimate him.”
“Yeah,” Cassius says. “I think I’ve got that.” He turns to me. “As soon as the officials on Altair see this Academy shuttle land in the docking bay, they’ll likely send people after you.”
I grit my teeth. He’s right. Unless Alkine’s pulled off some sort of diplomatic miracle while I’ve been gone, everybody onboard the Academy are still fugitives from the Skyship Community.