I shake my head. Every time I think I have Nine figured out, he does something to turn it around and I end up liking him even more. I shrug, lean my head back, and turn to watch the landscape whip by the window. I drum along with the music on my armrest. ‘I didn’t know, that’s all,’ I say.
He relaxes into his seat and smiles in a satisfied way that is more like the Nine I’m used to. ‘Yeah, well, now you do, man. Now you do.’
26
My head is in Sarah Hart’s lap, the real Sarah Hart, and she strokes my hair with her fingers. I stare blankly at the ceiling. I reach up and touch my neck. The cut that runs all the way around it is deep. I want to sit up, but my bruised ribs and knees won’t allow it.
I’m humiliated by how easily I was overtaken by Setrákus Ra. How weak I was in the face of his tremendous strength. I’ve killed so many Mogadorian soldiers. I’ve cut off their heads while mowing them down with weapons I controlled with my mind. Since I received my Legacies, I have always been ready to fight, no fear, no matter who or what I faced. Until now. Setrákus Ra tossed me around by my pendant like I was a rag doll. I was helpless against him. He even made my Legacies disappear. I had the opportunity to kill Setrákus Ra, to save Lorien and end the war, and I was swatted down like an annoying gnat.
‘Six? Can you tell me if John is still alive?’ Sarah asks cautiously. ‘I know you’re in pain, but can you tell me that?’
‘Yes. He’s alive,’ I whisper. I can feel her sigh with relief against me.
After a pause, she asks, ‘Are you okay?’
‘I don’t really know,’ I say. I turn my head so I can look up into Sarah’s tired eyes. I try to smile. I’m exhausted. My eyelids are already fluttering when I open my mouth to speak, ‘He was you, he tricked me into thinking he was you, the monster.’
Sarah takes this in without any sign of confusion. She shakes her head and looks away. ‘I know. He showed me. A couple of days ago he came into my cell. I thought he was there to take me back to the room where …’ She trails off for a minute, then clears her throat and straightens up. ‘This room with all these machines and strobe lights. I feel like I’m crazy in there and everything hurts. It’s hard to explain. But he wasn’t here to take me anywhere. He just stood there, not saying anything. Then he started jerking around, like he was having a seizure. Then he started to shrink, and, bam! – it was like I was looking into a mirror. When he finally did speak, it wasn’t his voice. It was mine. I tried to hit him and rip out his eyes, but he beat me so badly that … Well, the first time I could stand was when I caught you when you were thrown in here.’
‘I’m flattered.’ I try to laugh, but it gets caught in my throat. ‘No, seriously, thank you.’
‘Well, you’re welcome.’ She’s smiling down on me, and I think she must have been terrified. I was more scared than I’ve ever been just now, and I was born and raised to do this. This is my life. It isn’t Sarah’s, not by a long shot.
‘I don’t get something. How did he know so much about you? How could he trick me for so long?’
‘They know everything, Six,’ she says, her voice deadly serious.
I slowly begin to roll out of her lap, to push myself off the ground. I try to ignore my ribs begging me to stay down. ‘What do you mean, everything ? About who? And what do you know? About any of this?’
Sarah looks away. ‘What little I know, I told them all of it,’ she says after a minute. ‘I couldn’t help it. They kept taking me to that room, strapping me down, and they injected me with drugs. They asked me the same questions, over and over; after a while my mouth moved even though I told it to stop. I just couldn’t stop talking.’ Sarah puts her face in her hands and sobs. ‘I told them everything, repeating whole conversations word for word.’
I sit against the wall and let the pain wash over my body. ‘If John sees Setrákus Ra and believes it’s you, I don’t know what will happen.’
Sarah suddenly sounds frantic. ‘We have to get out of here! We have to stop him! Is there any way we can warn John?’
‘I don’t know if I’m ready to break out of here.’
‘What? Why?’ she asks, shocked.
I stagger to my feet, clutching at my ribs. ‘Now that I’ve met Setrákus Ra, I want another chance at him. He let me live, and now, I’m going to kill him.’ This would sound more lethal if I weren’t swaying slightly, but I mean it from my very core.
Sarah stands, and I get a good look at her for the first time. Her face is covered in dirt and bruises, her blond hair limp on her shoulders, but she’s still beautiful. The bottom of her red sweater is torn and she’s not wearing any shoes. She’s swaying a bit herself. She stares at me, incredulous. ‘Look at yourself, Six. You’re hurt. You’re really hurt. Do you know what you’re even saying? It would be nuts for you to fight him alone. John will come; just wait for him. Please. He’ll come, and he’ll rescue us, and Sam. I know he will.’
‘Sam’s here? Are you sure? Have you actually seen him?’
Sarah clenches her jaw. ‘They tossed him in here with me once. He was unconscious, all cut up and bruised. Like me.’ Then the energy drains out of her and her voice drops. ‘But I know I can’t believe anything I see or hear anymore.’
Picturing a bloody Sam in this very cell makes my stomach twist with anger. What happened in that Mog cave? I punch the cement wall, surprised to see it chip away. My strength is returning. No pain. My Legacies are coming back. I look directly into Sarah’s eyes. ‘Sarah, did you turn John in that night at the playground? You need to tell me.’
Without hesitation she answers. ‘Absolutely not. I love him. Yes, I was confused about, well, about everything and it was a lot to take in. But I would never betray any of you, especially John.’
I see her tear-filled eyes, and know she’s telling the truth. ‘Even though he’s an alien, you still love him? You don’t care?’
Sarah smiles. ‘I can’t explain it. I can’t explain how love feels to me, how it fills me up inside and keeps me going, but I know that it’s strong and beautiful and I know it’s how I feel about John. I love him, and I will always love him.’ Just saying the words aloud has her standing up straighter; she looks stronger and more determined.
Her conviction moves me. I think about what happened between me and John, the kiss and everything. I don’t love John like Sarah does. She clearly believes John is the only one for her, in the entire universe.
‘I’ve been having these flashbacks, you know, about our trip to Earth. He and I were always fighting,’ I say, my voice soft.
‘You were?’ she asks, hungry for anything I can tell her.
‘Well, not really fighting so much as me pushing him around and taking his toys.’
We laugh and she takes my hand. I’m sorry she’s here because of us. I’m not going to let her down. She has so much faith in what we do, who we are, I can see it on her face. ‘I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I’m going to get you back to John,’ I say.
‘I hope so,’ she says softly.
‘And we’ll find Sam and get him out of here too; then we’ll meet up with Seven, Eight and Ten, find Five, and we’ll figure everything out as a team.’ Her hand in mine gives me even more strength, more certainty than ever.
‘Hang on. Number Ten? I thought there were just nine of you guys.’
‘There are a lot of things you don’t know, things we’ve learned recently,’ I say, touching the cut around my neck. It still hurts, but feels like it’s already starting to heal. I wonder vaguely if I’m gaining a new Legacy.