I’m not sure how long I’m bathed in that pure blue light, how long I listen to the sonorous heartbeat
of Lorien. It could be two minutes or it could be two hours. The experience is hypnotic and
comforting. When the light begins to die down and the volume of the heartbeat lowers to a steady
thrum in the background, I almost miss it. It’s like waking up from a warm dream that you don’t want
to leave.
I open my eyes and immediately gasp.
Eight’s body hovers upright over the Sanctuary’s well, the column of blue light surrounding him. I
snatch at Marina’s hand.
‘Are you doing this?’ I ask, unintentionally shouting.
Marina shakes her head and squeezes my hand. There are tears in her eyes.
A few steps behind us, Adam is on his knees. He must’ve collapsed during the light show. He
looks up at Eight, completely mystified.
‘What’s happening? What is this?’
‘Look at him,’ Marina says. ‘Look.’
I’m about to tell Adam I have no idea what’s going on when I see Eight’s fingers move. Was it just
a trick of the light? No – Marina must have seen it too because she makes a little squeaking sound and covers her mouth with her free hand, her other squeezing down hard on mine.
Eight wiggles his fingers. Floating, he shakes out his arms and legs. He rolls his head as if working
out a crick in his neck.
Then, he opens his eyes. They are pure Loralite. Eight’s eyes glow the same cobalt shade as the
deepest veins in the wall. When he opens his mouth, blue light comes flooding out.
‘Hello,’ Eight says, in an echoing voice that doesn’t belong to our friend. It’s a melodic, beautiful
voice, like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
It is the voice of Lorien.
2 6
Most people have the sense to run. These New Yorkers have seen enough movies to know what
happens when an alien spaceship parks itself over your city. They stream down the sidewalk in
droves. Some even abandon their cars in the middle of the avenues, which makes it slow going for
our convoy of black SUVs. Luckily, outside Sanderson’s hotel, Agent Walker was able to convince
the local cops who showed up in response to the shooting to help us. When it comes to alien
invasions, I guess there’s something about a federal agent in a black suit and sunglasses.
Even with the added sirens and flashers of the NYPD, it’s hard cutting through the city. Through the
chaos.
And yet, some people aren’t running away from the East River, where the Mogadorian warship
hovers ominously over the United Nations. They’re running towards it. People with their phones out,
recording, eager to catch a glimpse of alien life. I can’t make up my mind if they’re brave, crazy or
just stupid. Probably a combination of the three. I want to shout out the window for them to turn and
run, but there’s no time.
I won’t be able to save all of them.
‘Michael Worthington, a senator representing Florida.’ Agent Walker barks the name into her cell
phone, reading it off a yellow legal pad. She’s in the passenger seat, looking harried and wild. She
knows there’s not enough time for her orders to make a difference, but she’s giving them anyway.
‘Melissa Croft, she’s on the joint chiefs of staff. Luc Phillipe, the French ambassador.’ Walker
pauses, reaching the end of her list. She glances into the backseat, where Bud Sanderson is
sandwiched in between me and Sam. ‘Is that everyone?’
Sanderson nods. ‘Everyone that I know of.’
Walker nods and speaks into the phone. ‘Arrest them. Yes, all of them. If they resist, kill them.’
She hangs up the phone. The list of politicians associated with MogPro – dozens of names relayed
one by one by Walker to her contacts – came courtesy of Sanderson. Even if the rogue agents Walker
has in her command can pull it off, the arrests might not do much good now, at the zero hour. At the
very least, we have to hope Walker and her people will knock the Mog-friendly traitors out of power,
leaving behind a government that’s ready to resist. Although how much resistance they’ll be able to
mount remains to be seen.
How long did Henri tell me it took the Mogs to conquer Lorien? Less than a day?
Through the windshield, the Mogadorian warship is visible. It makes the city’s skyscrapers look
like toys and casts blocks-long shadows in every direction. The thing looks like a giant roach poised
over New York. There are hundreds of blaster turrets along its sides and on its belly, and I think I can make out openings where smaller Mog ships are probably docked. Even with the full Garde, Legacies
blazing, I’m not sure we could take down that hulk.
Agent Walker is staring at the ship, too. I guess it’s probably impossible to ignore the massive,
alien object that crowds the horizon. She turns to look at me.
‘You can destroy that thing, right?’
‘Sure,’ I reply, trying to mimic Nine’s casual bluster. He’s in the SUV behind ours, probably
explaining to his escort of agents how he’ll rip apart that warship with his bare hands. ‘We got this.
No problem.’
Next to me, Sanderson chuckles darkly, but shuts up when Walker fixes him with a menacing look.
On the other side of the disgraced secretary of defense, Sam finally looks up from the cell phone he
‘borrowed’ from that innocent bystander outside the hotel.
‘The upload is done,’ he says to me. ‘Sarah’s got the footage.’
‘Thanks, Sam,’ I reply, and pull my own phone out from my pocket, immediately dialing Sarah’s
number.
I wonder what Henri would think of me and Sam uploading footage of me using my Legacies to the
website of They Walk Among Us. In my wildest dreams, I don’t think I could’ve concocted a scenario
where I’d willingly take my powers public. But here we are.
Sarah answers on the first ring. I can hear activity in the background – people talking, a television
blaring.
‘John, thank God! The Mogs are all over the news! Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine,’ I tell her. ‘Just making my way towards the biggest Mogadorian ship I’ve ever seen.’
‘John, I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Sarah replies, worry in her voice.
‘It’s nothing we can’t handle –’ I start to reassure her, until a blast of static cuts me off. ‘Sarah?
Are you still there?’
‘I’m here,’ she replies, sounding a little more distant than before. ‘I think something’s interfering
with the connection, though.’
It must be the warships. I’m sure those huge things coming down from orbit aren’t doing any favors
for the cellular networks. Not to mention all the panicked phone calls like this one that must be going on around the country. I have to talk quicker in case I lose service.
‘Sam just sent some video files to Mark’s website. Did you guys get them? I think they could be
useful.’ I remember what Sam said to me outside the gas station. ‘We don’t want to just scare people.
We also want to give them hope.’
Next to me, Bud Sanderson snorts. I guess the old man doesn’t have too much faith in anything
we’re doing on They Walk Among Us. I don’t know if it’s going to work either – like Walker’s
arrests, like anything we do today, it might be too late for it to matter. But we’ve got to cover every possible angle of fighting back against the Mogs.
‘I’m looking at it now,’ Sarah says, and her breath catches. ‘John, it’s – you’re amazing. But I’m a
sucker for handsome aliens performing miracles.’
I’ve been trying to look stone-faced in front of my uneasy allies, so I have to turn away from
Sanderson to hide my smile.
‘Uh, thanks.’