Horizon (30 page)

“We’re in the mountain,” she said. “Can you pull up Dash’s location?”

Hoku didn’t respond, but a moment later Zorro projected a detailed map in front of her. It seemed to mimic their current location, as if detailed notes had been overlaid on what she would normally see. But far away, up the corridor and to the right somewhere, a green dot pulsed.

“Dash,” she said, and hoped that Vachir was still with him. She could handle their imprisonment so much better when she pictured them together.

She swam hard. Hoku and Zorro ruined her sleekness, but she made up for their bulkiness with sheer power. One kick after the next, faster and faster.

And in her mind, she begged them to be alive. She begged the ocean spirits and the ancients, the Equians’ sun god, and the Aviars’ sky. If she’d remembered what the Serpenti cherished, she would have added their gods to her growing list. But mostly, she begged Vachir and Dash.
Hold on just a little longer
, she told them.
I’m coming. Just hold on.

The tunnel curved down and then turned up sharply, until Aluna felt like she was swimming straight for the surface. Just as she was about to stop and recite the ritual of ascent to let her body recalibrate for the change in pressure, the passage twisted back down and leveled off.

“You still back there?” she asked. Hoku used to talk when he was nervous. She hadn’t realized how much his jabbering had calmed her nerves as well.

“Still no connection to a comm satellite,” he said. “I’d feel better if I could contact the others. I think this tunnel is doing something to dampen the reach of my Datastreamers. I’m using Zorro’s processor to boost my signal, but still nothing.”

“So yes, you’re still back there,” Aluna mumbled.

He continued to ramble about his tech, and although most of the words slid off her mind like droplets of water, his voice echoing in her head helped to keep out other, darker thoughts.

Sometimes the pulsing green dot indicating Dash’s location got farther away on Zorro’s projection, and Aluna’s chest tightened. All she could do was swim faster, concentrating on her technique with every ounce of her being to keep from panicking. But eventually, the tunnel would twist and turn and they’d be heading for him again. The fist around her chest would release its grip, and she’d be able to slow down a little and breathe.

When the current shifted, Aluna knew they were close to surfacing in an underground cave inside the mountain. She kicked toward the water’s surface, her hands twitching for weapons.

“Wait!” Hoku said.

She slowed down, irritated, and watched him unfasten the force shield from his arm. He plucked the comm device from its center and handed the shield to Aluna.

“You might need this,” he said. “I can still get messages from the others with the comm unit. I just won’t be able to send any back. Unless . . .” He looked at Zorro and the animal’s eyes glowed green. “Yes, yes, I can use Zorro if I need to, although I don’t want to compromise his systems unless I have no other choice.” He scratched the raccoon behind the ears. “What a good little universal communication system just waiting to be converted!”

Aluna secured the force shield to her left forearm. Such a small device with so much power. She’d have been killed sixteen times over in her battle with Scorch at the Thunder Trials if Hoku hadn’t gotten her that shield at the last moment. She suspected it would save her again when they found Strand.

Hoku told Zorro to turn off the map projection, and they surfaced in the back of the cave in the shadow of a rocky overhang. Aluna searched for threats, but the cave was empty. Not even a lone Upgrader left to watch the water.

“He didn’t think we’d find this place,” Hoku said.

“We wouldn’t have, without the old files from Seahorse Alpha,” Aluna said. “Maybe Sarah Jennings never told him what she was storing there.”

“Wait. Then why were Fathom and the Deepfell slave army out there?” Hoku asked.

Aluna groaned. “Tides’ teeth. If they weren’t guarding the entrance, then they were preparing to go to war.”

“Against . . . us?”

She nodded. “If Daphine, Anadar, and Eekikee don’t stop that army, I bet it will head straight for the City of Shifting Tides.”

Aluna clung to the rock wall and imagined what Fathom might do to her people. To her family.

“Strand,” Aluna said. “We need to stop him.”

“Strand,” Hoku agreed.

The cave had no sandy beach, like the Deepfell cave. Instead, a metal platform had been installed near the only doorway. They swam over and hauled themselves out of the water.

“I don’t have a sheath for my tail,” Aluna said. “Do you have any straps of hide or rope?”

Hoku dug into his satchel, pulled out an extra shirt, and began ripping it into strips. Aluna folded her delicate tail fin up and wrapped it around the bottom of her tail, where her calves used to be when she had legs. She used the cloth to tie it securely in place.

“It’s not as good as protective leather, but it’ll be good enough,” she said. “At least now I can fight with it.”

She hadn’t brought walking sticks with her, either, so she dragged herself through the door using her hands.

“Stop!” Hoku yelled, but it was too late. Aluna looked down and saw a thin line of light hitting her arm. In the distance, an alarm sounded.

“Barnacles,” she muttered. “Well, come on. They know we’re here now.”

The corridor outside the cave had been carved from mountain rock but filed smooth as plastic. They reached a fork in the passage and Hoku consulted his map. “Dash seems to be in the middle,” he said. “I can’t tell which path to take.”

“We need to know. Have you tried breaking into the system, or whatever it is you do with your new tech eyes?” she asked.

“Zorro is trying all the passwords I have on file from the water safe, and extrapolating — guessing — at new ones. No success yet.” Hoku looked back and forth between the hallways.

“Left,” Aluna said.

Hoku looked confused. “Why left? Do you have a feeling about it? Is there some data I’m overlooking?” His orange eyes flickered, and she imagined him scanning tiny files, looking for answers.

“Left because we’ll be dead if we just sit here trying to decide,” she said. “Now, pull your head out of your tech and run!”

She dragged herself down the corridor, her arms straining. Hoku caught up to her easily.

“There are doors ahead,” he said. “I’m trying to access them, to find somewhere for us to hide until they stop looking for us.”

Huge metal doors appeared on both sides of the hall, each big enough for a whole family of Kampii to swim through at once. Footsteps sounded behind them. People called out to one another up ahead.

“Open a door,” Aluna said. “Tides’ teeth, open a door!”

“Got one!” Hoku said, rushing ahead. Huge metal doors sighed open and Aluna pulled herself faster. As soon as she was inside, Hoku punched a panel on the wall and the doors closed behind them.

A
N ALARM SOUNDED
in the tunnel and Calli swore. “How do they know we’re here?” The team had made good distance so far, but they still hadn’t reached Dash.

“It is my fault,” Nathif said. “I dazzle without even trying. Curse my unforgettable nature!”

“Not funny,” Mags said. “Could mean they got Squirrel.”

“I apologize,” Nathif said quickly. “My tongue gets away from me sometimes.”

Odd grunted, but Calli had no idea what he meant by it.

“Can you run any faster, Pocket?” Calli asked. If only she were a little stronger, then she could carry the boy herself.

“I’ve got him,” Odd said, lumbering over.

“No, let me,” Nathif countered. “If we are attacked, you need to be ready to . . . bash things. I, however, have no purpose in a fight.”

Pocket didn’t argue and Nathif hefted him up like a small sack of grain. They sped down the tunnel until the sound of stomping horse hooves made Calli pull everyone to a stop.

Mags sniffed the air. “Squirrel says the evil woman was riding a chariot pulled by horse folk. Smells like we’re close.”

“They do have a distinct odor,” Nathif said, but almost to himself. Maybe he was trying to refrain from joking, but this was as close as he could get.

The horse smell became stronger as they approached a large, well-lit opening on the right of the tunnel. None of them were particularly stealthy now that Pocket was injured, so they had no choice but to creep forward, as inconspicuously as five strange people could.

Calli craned her neck and peered into what seemed to be a vast stable. Rhinebras, horses, and two giant insects stood in the closest stalls, their heads tied to the sturdy metal gates. A collection of saddles and two chariots sat nearby, ready for use.

There was no sign of Vachir.

Farther back, she saw the Equians. Two women stood together, their heads almost touching, next to two men. One of the men had his eyes closed, possibly unconscious, while the other dabbed his face with a bloody cloth.

“Dash’s fathers are in here,” she whispered to the others.

“We can get them after we save Dash,” Nathif said. “We cannot spare any time.”

“No,” Odd said, just as Calli opened her mouth to say the same thing. “Dash would want us to grab them first.”

“Agreed. You don’t know the boy like we do,” Mags said to Nathif.

Nathif hung his head, almost buried it in Pocket’s chest. The others didn’t know of his history with Dash, how Dash had risked everything to save Nathif from Shining Moon and its torture.

“There are no guards,” Calli said. “We’ll save the Equians and leave the animals tied up. We might need them for our escape.”

Odd grunted. “Good noggin work.”

It sounded like a compliment, so Calli took it as one. She was still smiling when she tried to step into the room and ran straight into a force shield.

Pain ricocheted through her body. She tried to scream, but couldn’t open her mouth. She tried to step back, away from the pain, but none of her muscles would obey her. She smelled something burning and wondered if it was her wings.

Gloved hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled. Calli came unstuck from the force shield and the scream inside her burst out, raw and powerful.

“Make sure she does not bite her tongue,” Nathif said. “Test her eyes. Do they still dilate?”

“I’m no green basic,” Mags retorted. Mags’s head, with its halo of wavy black hair, filled Calli’s vision. “I’ll bet a black cat I’ve seen more electrocuting than you.”

Calli felt Mags’s hands on her face, gentle but insistent. Calli blinked, grateful that her body was once again taking orders. Mags patted her on the shoulder. “You’ll be right as rocks, little bird. No more shocks for you today, though. Don’t want those wings all fried up.”

Calli nodded and let Mags help her to her feet.

“Controls are here,” Pocket said. He stood by another of those glowing control panels, this one situated at Human height. “Don’t know what to push.”

“Nothing,” Calli said. “Don’t push anything. The wrong combination might shock you, or set off another alarm.” She joined him and studied the panel. “I don’t have the right equipment to override the security. Scorch has the passcode, and Hoku could probably access the computer system and get it. We’d need one of them in order to shut off the force wall.”

“I vote for Scorch,” Nathif said, his eyes dark. “Willing or unwilling.”

“After we find Dash and Vachir, we’ll look for her,” Calli said. After one last look into the stable and a silent apology to Dash’s parents, she led them farther down the tunnel. Nathif had picked up Pocket again, and the boy called off their distance to Dash’s homing beacon.

“Two hundred meters.”

“One hundred fifty.”

“One hundred.”

Rooms and new hallways beckoned them from both sides of the tunnel. Four times they had to sneak past an open door where Upgraders were repairing weapons, cooking meals, or working at desks piled with scientific equipment.

“So few Gizmos down here,” Mags grumbled. “Not much of a secret base.”

“Perhaps Strand does not trust many of his own people with his secrets,” Nathif said. “Have you seen some of these Upgraders? Who can blame him.”

“Still prettier than snakes,” she countered.

“Keep moving. Stay quiet,” Calli said, and was pleased to see both Mags and Nathif look momentarily ashamed.

There were no troops down here, no wounded, no bustling war rooms filled with maps and screaming generals. The whole place felt . . . strange. Like an abandoned outpost or an ancient temple. Karl Strand was no typical warlord.

“Fifty meters,” Pocket said.

Calli flew faster and the others kept up with her. She could hear Nathif breathing more heavily, and sweat dripped down Odd’s brow, but no one uttered a word of complaint.

“There’s the door,” Pocket said. “It looks like Dash is inside!”

“I don’t like how easy this has been,” Calli said, and yet, she couldn’t make herself slow down. Her mother would have been more cautious. Electra would have chided her for her recklessness. But . . .
Dash.

“The door is closed,” she said. “We’ll have to pry it open or —”

As she spoke, the wide doors slid open with a hiss. Some doors at Skyfeather’s Landing were pressure sensitive; this one probably was, too. Calli flew in and the others followed. As soon as Mags was inside, the doors slid closed behind them.