Nick James - Crimson rising

We sprint through the mazelike corridor on our way to the escape ladder. I grab the closest rung and climb. My arms still ring from the Sophomore Tour. The agents will have a harder time negotiating the ladder with all their gear. I saw the weapons they were holding. No stunners. That was lethal force. They wouldn’t shoot me. They can’t. Not if they know what I mean to Alkine.

I reach the surface and emerge on the dirt gasping for air. Ryel follows, struggling to his feet.

“Jesse!” Eva stands next to the fallen agent, brandishing a small pistol. Skandar crouches beside her, digging through the guy’s weapons pack.

“They’re coming.” I stagger from the hole. “We’ve gotta get back to the shuttle.”

Skandar stands. “All this guy’s got is stunners.”

“It doesn’t matter. Which way’s the shuttle?”

Eva consults the stars before pointing behind her. “There.”

I take off in a sprint, followed by the others. Ryel runs beside me, easily matching my pace.

A shot fires into the sky behind us. It’s meant to intimidate. All it does is tell me where the agents are. They’ve made it up the ladder.

We jump across rocks-over ridges and through plots of mud. All the while, the agents pursue us. I can’t even see the outline of the shuttle yet. With each step, escape becomes more unlikely. Without a Pearl, I’m helpless.

Skandar bumps into Eva. “Give me the stunner.”

She resists, but he grabs it from her hand and sidesteps away.

“What are you doing?!?”

“Get to the shuttle!” Skandar shouts. “I’ll hold them off!”

As my lungs scream for air, our shuttle pulls into view. I look over my shoulder and watch the agents approach, closer and closer. A second shot breaks the silence. I cover my head, expecting to be hit.

Instead I see Skandar freeze and pivot in the grass, brandishing a stunner in each hand. It’s tricky enough to accurately shoot one of those things in training modules. Trying to stun a guy through full body armor is near impossible.

“Skandar! No!” Eva slows, desperation in her face.

He doesn’t listen. He stands his ground, waiting for the agents. “Go! Go!”

The shuttle grows closer. We’re almost there.

Skandar fires-two darts laced with tranquilizer. One connects. I hear a body fall.

I slam into the side door of the shuttle and plug in the code to open it.

More shots. The agents’ attention is diverted. Skandar’s bought us the seconds we need. They better not hurt him.

The door opens. We scramble inside. Ryel follows us.

Eva cranks up the engine before she has a chance to sit. I watch the skirmish through the side window. A pair of agents tackle Skandar to the ground. His stunner flies from his hand. He’s defenseless. We could shoot-harness what meager defense equipment this shuttle has-but then we’d risk hitting him. Shuttles don’t fire stun darts. We could kill.

The landing gear retracts. We bolt into the air. I half expect the agents to open fire. Maybe it’s because we’re in an Academy vehicle. Maybe they did recognize me back there. Whatever the case, they keep their weapons still.

We gain speed and pull away from the island. It’s only when we’re a safe distance from land that Eva turns to me. “They’ve got Skandar, Jesse.” She chokes on the words.

“I know.” I pace uneasily. “What have we done?”

“They’ve got him,” she repeats. Her eyes widen. “They-”

She can’t finish the sentence. It finally happened. She can see what the Academy’s become. Otherwise she would’ve chosen different words.

They’ve got him. They. Not we.

They.

Cassius relished the chance to leave his cell, to move freely without shackles pulling him back.

The Unified Party Cruiser landed in the Fringes several minutes ago, opening its door to a world far different than the temperature-controlled room inside the Lodge. Madame surprised him earlier in the morning, arriving in place of the usual breakfast lady. “We’ll be going on an errand,” she’d said, and left it at that. It was like old times. She never revealed more than she had to.

His wrists had welts on them from being restrained for so long. He walked with a slight limp. His leg cramped.

Keep moving.

Madame’s voice echoed in his mind. She hadn’t actually spoken, but the device on his neck relayed her commands.

They were at the edge of a Fringe Town. Syracuse, just a short distance from the Lodge. Cassius couldn’t think of a more uncomfortable place. Every time he breathed, the air felt thick and sandy. Sweat dripped from his neck, staining the collar of his shirt. A dry wind ripped like sandpaper against his skin. And the sun… it was unstoppable. Syracuse, more than any other Fringe Town, had special significance. It was where everything had started, where he’d first met Fisher and triggered his power, where Pearls stopped being energy and became something else. He hadn’t been back since.

The town could be dangerous. The lawlessness of the Fringes wasn’t too far off from the slum lands back in Providence, though they were far emptier. Every time he’d ventured outside in the past, something had gone wrong. Fringers, like Slum Lords, were not to be trusted. Even though he’d denounced the ways of the Unified Party, he could still become a target. No Fringer would be happy to see someone like Madame walking through their town, not after the government all but banished them to a life in this hellish wasteland.

Madame wore a loose white blouse and tan pants. Casual for her. He assumed she wanted to blend in. Beside her was the boy, Theo Rayne, trotting along like an obedient puppy. Cassius didn’t know why she’d insisted on bringing him. As usual, she’d offered no explanation.

Cassius surveyed the buildings on either side of them. Gutted, dusty storefronts bordered the vacant street. This was a ghost town-brown and lifeless. There were thousands like it scattered throughout the country, each as dead as the last. He hoped all the Fringers had scattered to different parts of the state.

Keep walking.

Madame wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. “Lovely morning, isn’t it?”

He wanted to push away, summon fire, and fight, but the harnessing kept him at bay. It was an odd half-life, hazy and unfocused like a dream. He could move. He could talk. But he couldn’t break through.

Madame released him and steered Theo to the right. She pointed to a building on the nearest corner. “That’s a fine example of turn-of-the-century architecture.” Cassius glanced up. The windows had been blown out on all three stories. “Things were quaint back then. I would love to crawl inside a time machine, take an excursion back before it all changed.”

Theo tensed his shoulders. “Do I have to wear this jacket?”

“I know it’s hot, dear, but you don’t want to walk back into the Lodge with a Surface Tan. Besides, the material’s designed to help regulate your body temperature. You’d be less comfortable without it.”

Cassius dragged his feet beside them. “Isn’t it dangerous for someone like you to be out here?”

“It’s a dangerous world, Cassius.” She led them down an alley. “The trick is not caring.”

Theo’s head poked around her back. He grinned. “The great Cassius Stevenson’s not scared, is he?”

Cassius ignored him. The truth was, he didn’t think he could be scared if he tried. He couldn’t seem to summon any emotion at all.

“Now Theo,” Madame chuckled. “Play nice. I don’t want the incident in Cassius’s cell to repeat itself. It’s important to me that the two of you get along.” She paused. “Come. We’re nearly there.”