Haven 6 (29 page)

A ruffle of feathers came with the wind. Phoenix appeared as a winged shadow in the doorway. “May I come in?”

“Certainly.”

The birdman had been present the day he was born, and every day after that, so it was fitting he’d be there on the day when it would all end. “You can help me distribute the bows.”

Phoenix walked by the weapons as if they meant nothing and put his long, clawed fingers over Striver’s shoulder. “You are brave to stay and fight.”

Striver shrugged. “Brave or stupid. I’ve evacuated most of the village to the caves. Those who stay and join us do so by free will alone.”

Phoenix nodded. “That is why I am here. The Guardians will fight by your side.”

Striver stopped weaving the reeds and glanced up at the birdman. “What?”

“The Guardians have always followed you, deterring the Lawless as much as we can.”

“But this is different.” Striver shook his head. “You can’t get involved in anything violent toward another living thing.”

Phoenix spread his wing. “Who said we’d be violent? We’re just bringing our nets.”

Striver sighed with frustration. Phoenix sacrificed too much. “This may be our end, and yours as well. You have more to lose. Humans will take over this planet, whether we win or not, but the Guardians are scarce. Who knows if any other colony ships made it to other planets from your dying home world?”

“We’d like to have a say in which humans we choose to share our planet with.” Phoenix tilted his head and his eyes sparkled.

Striver sighed, shaking his head. “We’re not going to win, no matter who comes for us.”

Phoenix whistled a melody followed by a gentle cooing sound. “You cannot predict the future. Many strands of the tapestry have still yet to be linked for an accurate picture to develop.”

Striver collected the first row of bows. “I wish I had your faith.”

Phoenix ruffled his feathers. “I wish I had your passion.”

Striver paused, glancing back at the Guardian with a questioning look. They never even so much as showed a hint of wanting something that humans had. They could fly, for Refuge’s sake! And live for hundreds of years.

“Why? My emotions tear me apart.”

“They make you who you are. They give you strength, conviction of purpose.”

“You have those already.”

“Yes, but mostly through logic. Passion is a powerful driving force. Don’t hold your emotions back. Use them to achieve success.”

Phoenix’s speech stirred determination in Striver’s heart. He put a hand on the birdman’s wing, feeling the soft features that covered a soul with a hard, iron will. Phoenix was both gentle and strong, a true asset to their colony. “If it will keep you safe, old friend, I’ll try my best.”

…

They descended the rope ladder to meet the others who’d chosen to stay. The main square was full of villagers. Striver’s chest swelled and tightened as he scanned the crowd. So many had come to fight, and he was responsible for every one of their lives. Had he made the right decision?

Riley stood with his bag full of poison-tipped arrows and an apologetic look on his face. Striver approached him carefully, still feeling the sting of the welt on his cheek. “You sure about this?”

“Sure as anything. I want to defend my home.”

“What about Riptide? How is she doing?”

“You can ask me that yourself, because I’m right here.” Riptide walked into the moonlight from the shadows with camouflage painted across her face, holding a spear. “Although I question your romantic choices, I’ve never questioned you as a leader.”

“Thank you, Riptide.” She kept her distance, respecting his space. Maybe someday she’d come to respect whom he’d chosen. If they ever saw Eri again.

I will find her. I have to.

Carven pushed through the crowd and Striver shook his head, raising a hand to hold him back. “Not you, old friend. You have a family to watch over.”

Carven smiled a sad smile, adjusting his belt of carving knives he used to prepare the roasted swamp boars. He took Striver’s hand in his own. “That’s why I’m here.”

“We can’t win this.”

Carven patted him on the back. “Don’t count your swillow wisps before they hatch. Besides, we have Mars.” He gestured over his shoulder. The burly woman had carved a spiked hammer out of wood and flint blades. Holding the weapon with black streaks painted across her face, she gave Striver a ferocious grin. “She looks like she could eat Lawless for dinner and spit them back out again.”

Litus broke through the crowd, checking his wrist locator. “The commander asked me to hold tight for now, but I’m to meet up with her forces if need be.”

Striver had grown to trust Litus, and now he relied on him to provide vital information. He reminded himself the man walked a thin line between helping them and staying true to his own people. Striver would not want to stand in Litus’s boots. He had his own thin line to walk between saving Eri and protecting his tribe. “When do you expect they’ll attack?”

Litus glanced up at the ship in the sky and shrugged. “Anytime.”

“How will we know when they move?”

Riptide gasped behind them. Striver followed her gaze to the sky. The ship moved, growing larger with each second. A deep rumbling stirred his gut, making him feel tied to the ship and its fate. The hull broke through the atmosphere, red and orange flames licking at the nose as it barreled down on Lawless lands.

…

Eri watched the swirls of golden liquid eddy around the rim of the pool. Time. Oodles of it, stretching backward and forward into the future. If only she could borrow some, freeze the moment to make a plan. She had to get to Weaver before their time ran out.

Weaver sat by her scribbles in the sand, resting his head in both hands with his elbows propped on his knees. She still had no idea what his plan was, but it didn’t look like it was going well.

She could tell the golden liquid made him feel guilty about his past. Which meant there was still hope for him.

Just get right to it. Open the wound and see if he reacts. Get him where it hurts most to wake him up, make him feel again.
Eri took in a deep breath. “You know Striver would do anything for you.”

Weaver cast her a suspicious glance.

“He saved your life in this very cave. He dragged you all the way back home, and look what you did in return.”

Weaver’s shoulders rose and fell as he sighed. He didn’t look up again. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Fine. We won’t talk about him.” She kicked her boot against a rock, feigning interest in the etchings. She had other tactics up her sleeve. “You think you’re special, that no one else knows your pain.” She traced a symbol and blew the dust off the tip of her finger. “I know what it’s like to be on the outside, to be the odd one out.”

He spat in the sand. “You don’t know nothing.”

“Don’t I?” Anger hardened inside her and she clenched her fists together. “I’m an illegal DNA crossing, a product of a mismatched pairing. Don’t tell me I don’t know what it feels like to be thought of as inferior my whole damn life.”

Weaver sat up, staring at her as if seeing someone else in disguise. Her adrenaline surged. She’d grabbed his attention.

“What do you mean, illegal DNA crossing?”

“Everyone is paired with certain lifemates on the
Heritage
, and each pairing is based on the conditions that will create the strongest genes without inbreeding. When you have such a small DNA pool, you have to be careful.” She checked to make sure he was still listening. He watched her like a child finding videos of Old Earth for the first time.

“Well, my parents weren’t careful. They fell in love, defied the system, and created me without any genetic engineering at all. Do you know what that does to a person? Thinking everyone else had an advantage, that they were somehow smarter, taller, stronger?”

Weaver exhaled like he had been holding his breath. “Wow, that sucks boar droppings.”

“You bet it does.” Eri actually felt better getting her feelings off of her chest. Although she’d told Striver, he wouldn’t understand like Weaver would. The difference between her and Weaver was how they took it. She overcame her prejudices on Haven 6, whereas he still fought with his. As much as she despised him, she pitied him as well. Now she understood why Striver had fought so vehemently to keep Weaver with them. It must have been hard for Weaver to follow in his brother’s footsteps, always falling short. She wanted to help him, bring him back from despair to a place where he could find peace.

Eri pointed her finger at him, then at herself. “We’re alike, you and I. I’m trying to find a way to live in Striver’s village, and you’re trying to find your place here among the Lawless. We’re both shedding our previous skins, attempting to live without preconceived notions getting in the way.” She walked up to him and whispered under her breath, “Maybe we can help each other?”

Weaver shrugged, a spark of interest in his emerald eyes. “I don’t know.”

At least it wasn’t an absolute “no.”
Eri placed her hand on his arm, pressing the issue into the wound in his heart. “You owe it to Striver to keep me safe. You know that.”

“I owe no one nothing.” He pulled his arm away, a flicker of remorse crossing his face.

She was so close. A few more minutes and he’d come around.

Voices echoed from the tunnel connecting to the cavern. Eri snapped her head up. Crusty stood with his bow cocked and ready to fire. “Don’t try anything rash, little lady.”

How long had the old man been awake? Eri bit down on her lower lip.

Too late. Time’s run out.

Weaver rose to his feet beside her. He whispered under his breath, “Don’t tell Jolt anything. You open your mouth and we’re both dead.”

Eri clenched her fists until her nails dug into her skin. Maybe it wasn’t Jolt. Just another watchman to replace Crusty.

The first thing she saw was the golden light reflecting off Jolt’s white scar, making her insides squirm. The leader entered the cave carrying Tank’s gallium crystal void ray. His eyes were wild, his muscles tensed. Sweat glistened in the pockmarks of his face. Behind him, other Lawless men and women carrying her team’s lasers filed in. The air crackled with hushed voices, anxiety, and fear.

Crusty lowered his bow. “What’s wrong, boss?”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong. That mother boar of a ship is coming straight for us, and all we have are a few lasers.” His piercing eyes traveled to Eri. “I need to know how the golden liquid works, and I need it now.”

Eri stared, frozen with inaction. She had to trust Weaver.
Don’t say a thing.

“Did you figure it out or do I have to blow your hand off?”

“She’s got it all decoded, boss.” Crusty gave her a wink.

Eri cast a wicked stare toward him. He hadn’t been sleeping. He’d listened in the whole time.

Jolt walked across the cave and Eri backed up until she stood beside the golden pool. One step back and she’d be reliving her thirteenth birthday party for all eternity.

His free hand grabbed the front of her shirt and he picked her up until her feet skimmed the floor. “If you send someone into this liquid, can they come back?”

Eri squirmed, the pressure on her chest increasing until she couldn’t breathe. “I don’t think so.”

“Not good enough. Can they come back or not?”

The Egyptians didn’t believe in their bodies continuing on forever, only their souls. If you entered the liquid, you lost your physical home and entered another dimension entirely. It was the only way it could work.

She shook her head. “No.”

If she were wrong, he wouldn’t know it until she was long gone or dead.

His grip tightened, pulling her tunic tighter around her chest. “Does it work with your weapons’ capacity?”

“What?”

He shook her until her teeth rattled. “Will it ruin these weapons or make them stronger?”

The liquid could be moved, because she’d seen it drip on the cavern floor. The symbols alluded to an energy source, so it was possible it would react with the gallium crystals in the weapons, intensifying their magnification. Depending on the absorption properties, it could even change the nature of the crystals and make the gun more powerful than she or Jolt could ever imagine.

Eri paused. If she were wrong, Jolt would be a puddle of sludge. But if she were right, he’d have more firepower than anything on the
Heritage
. In one shot, he could make ten men disappear. As much as she didn’t like her people invading, she didn’t want the Lawless to win.

“It would ruin your weapons, and you’d be lost to the liquid.”

Jolt eased her down. “Just what I thought I’d hear.”

He turned to the golden pool. Crusty called out from behind them, “Boss, what are you doing?”

“Making sure we win.” He dipped the energy sphere of the void ray into the golden liquid and held it there until the chamber filled with golden light. He pulled the weapon from the pool and gave Eri a mean smile, like he’d bested her in a game. “I’m not dead.”

She swallowed, backing up. The void ray pulsed with life, buzzing in his hands. “And this weapon still seems to work.” He pointed it toward her with a devilish sneer on his face. “You lied.”

Weaver stepped beside her. “Jolt, you don’t want to do that. She’s the only one who can decipher the symbols.”

“Who needs the symbols? I never liked directions anyway.” Jolt hefted the gun up higher, targeting her forehead. “Besides, I need to try this thing out.”

Fear clutched Eri’s throat with icy fingers until she fought for air. She hadn’t felt so incapacitated since she was a girl scurrying through dark corridors with the ghost of Lynex.
Wait a second! The ghost of Lynex…the alarm saved me before.

Eri pressed a button on her locater and a high, keening noise brought everyone to their knees. Blocking one ear, she grabbed Weaver’s arm. Holding both hands over his ears, he followed her past Jolt. Jolt had dropped his laser gun to cover his ears, and Eri contemplated going after the discarded weapon. But that was the opposite direction of escape, and she’d still have to fight Jolt for it. No, it was better to take advantage of the surprise. Dragging Weaver behind her, she bolted for the tunnel.