‘Where did that come from?’
‘I don’t know. Sandor had all this stuff with him on the ship that brought us here. I never even had a chance to see most of it, never mind learn how to use it. I tried to figure out what this stuff does a couple of times, but Sandor was always protective of it, and I never got anywhere. I mean, most of the time, I can’t tell the difference between the Earth stuff and ours, which really doesn’t help.’
He takes the cord he’s found and brings its triangle-shaped end to the triangle-shaped port on my tablet. We hold our breaths as Nine slides the end into the port. It fits and we both sigh in relief. Slowly, he puts the other end into the closest computer’s USB slot. A black horizontal line appears on the tablet’s screen, and seconds later we’re looking at a map of Earth. One by one, seven pulsing blue dots appear: two in Chicago, four in India or China, and one in what looks like Jamaica.
‘Um, bro,’ Nine says, his voice hushed. ‘I think that’s us. As in, all of us.’
‘Damn, you’re right. There we are, there we all are,’ I whisper. ‘We don’t even need the macrocosm with this thing.’
‘Wait a sec, there are seven dots, but only six of us left,’ Nine says, furrowing his brow.
I lean back. ‘I told you there was another ship, right? ’
‘Right, right,’ he says, suddenly the eager pupil paying close attention to me.
‘Well, we know there was an infant inside. This might mean it made it to Earth, after all! And that means –’
‘Setrákus Ra has seven of us to deal with, not six,’ Nine interrupts. ‘The more the merrier.’
While we’re both taking this new information in, a small box appears in the upper-right corner of the tablet screen with a green triangle inside. I press the triangle and two small green dots show up on the map. One is in the American Southwest, and the other is in northern Africa, possibly Egypt.
‘What do you think these are?’ I ask. ‘Do you think they’re nuclear bombs? Mog bombs? Shit, you don’t think they’re going to blow up Earth, do you?’
Nine slaps my back. ‘No. Think about it. A map that shows us is clearly geared for, well, us. Mog bombs are, like, a different category. I think these are our ships, dude!’
I’m speechless. It does kind of make sense. If that’s true then something almost too wonderful to let myself think about might also be true. After Setrákus Ra has been killed and Earth has been saved, we could actually fly back to Lorien. We could help bring it out of hibernation. We can go home. All of a sudden, I’m desperate to know the exact location of the dot in the Southwest, the one closest to us. ‘Where is this?’ I ask, pointing to it.
Nine pulls up a map on a screen and says, ‘The one out west is in New Mexico, the other one is in Egypt.’
Hearing him say ‘out west’ reminds me of Special Agent Walker’s last words to me. My decision is instantaneous and final. ‘That’s where we need to go. New Mexico.’
17
The minute Eight appears in the middle of the room, gushing blood, I rush over and place my hands on his wound. His blood runs over my fingers and down my wrists, and when another explosion rocks the cave, we both fall to the ground. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispers. ‘This is my fault.’
‘Shh. I can heal you. It’s my Legacy. You just have to relax for a second.’ The iciness flows from my fingertips to his ribs, and Eight immediately goes rigid with pain. The explosions keep coming and Eight winces with each one, but I stare deep into his eyes, willing him to stay with me. ‘It’s okay. Six is here. She can deal with this. We will be okay.’ I sound absolutely certain, trying to convince both of us.
‘Maybe this is when I die, maybe the drawing was just off,’ he says.
I press down harder, finally feeling his wound start to shrink in response to my touch. I shake my head firmly. ‘No, it isn’t.’
Through the chaos, I see Six push Ella and Crayton behind a large pile of fallen rock. She looks over at Eight and me, and the next thing I know we’re lifted off the ground and floated over to the rest of the group. When Six sets us down, she says, ‘All of you, just stay here while I turn invisible and check things out. Fix him up, Marina.’ She winks at me. Her voice tells me we’ll be okay if we all remember what we can do. The only way we’ll survive is if we pull together.
‘I’m trying,’ I say, but she’s already invisible. Below my hands, Eight’s lungs struggle to keep up with my Legacy, and his face drains of color. I can feel his insides shifting, almost as if resisting my powers. That’s not it, though. It can’t be. He’s just more wounded than I thought. Or, my Legacy is fading. But that is not an option. I begin to panic and I fight the sick feeling in my stomach. I need to focus on him, and not let myself get distracted by what is happening around us.
I hear gunfire and the distant screams of Mogadorian soldiers. I can only imagine what Six is doing out there. She is a merciless warrior when she needs to be, incredibly dangerous to any who threaten her – or us.
‘How is he?’ Crayton asks, hovering over Eight and glancing back and forth between the pain on Eight’s face and the panic in mine.
Ella grabs Eight’s hand and gets him to focus on her. ‘It’s okay. It’s going to hurt, Eight, but then it will feel better. Trust me.’ I watch her calming words wash over him and he begins to nod through his grimaces.
We hear a deafening crash overhead, and the cave’s ceiling comes alive with cracks that spread fast and wide. The dome is a jigsaw puzzle of pieces that threaten to break free at any moment, and suddenly the first one falls, a stone the size of a car plunging down towards us. I don’t want to withdraw my healing touch, but I have to remove my hands from Eight’s side in order to focus all of my energy on deflecting the stone away with my mind. When I lay my hands back on Eight’s wound, it feels like I’m starting all over again. I take whatever solace I can from the cave drawing. It may show him dying, but it does not show him dying here, this way.
‘Where’s Marina’s Chest?’ Ella asks. ‘Maybe there’s something in there that can help.’
Crayton stands. ‘Both Chests are on the other side of the cave. I’ll get them.’
‘No!’ Ella grabs the cuff of his sleeve, but Crayton races off. I watch, helpless. Pieces of the ceiling continue to fall and Ella yells for Crayton to come back, to wait for Six. My mind is racing. Six is out there battling single-handedly with a Mog army, and I know I need to forget all of it, and focus my energy on Eight. I can feel his body giving in to the pain and damage that I can’t seem to heal quickly enough to save him. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing him to respond to my Legacy, when I see his wound has returned to its original size, as if I’ve not even touched him.
‘Ella.’ I look at her, my eyes filling with tears. ‘It’s not working. I don’t know what to do!’
Ella’s voice is determined. ‘We need him, Marina. Just concentrate. You can do this.’
I try to catch my breath and see Crayton barely dodge a jagged boulder. ‘Eight. Hold on. I will do this, you will be better soon,’ I say as he closes his eyes. I shut out the noise of the attack, I shut out the hysteria surging inside of me, and I tell myself, I can heal Eight. I will heal him and Six will take care of the Mogs. We have a mission and this is not the end. I sit up straight, my breath slows to a normal rhythm, and a ball of ice seems to form between my shoulder blades. It races down my spine and out to my fingers. The force of it nearly pushes me over, but my fingers stay firmly on Eight’s wound. I can feel something happening inside of Eight and my breath quickens. My heart beats so fast I think it’s going to explode, and then Eight opens his eyes.