Nick James - Crimson rising

“They’re tracking us through the radar.” Eva crouches below the front console, gripping a fistful of wire in her hands. An unscrewed panel covering lays in the corner of the cockpit. “I’m really no mechanic, Jesse.”

“Just keep going.”

The sun’s fully risen as we speed over the Pacific Ocean. I try not to look down out the window. I don’t like the sameness of it. If we were to crash, or our solar power was to fail, there’d be no one around to help us. If we didn’t drown, we’d starve.

Eva curses. “They’ll know we’re going back to America. They’re probably watching as we speak.”

I glance at the spotless sky. “As long as we have a head start.”

Eva wipes her forehead and returns to her work. “You didn’t even talk to Cassius?”

“We can pick him up,” I say. “Trust me.”

I hear her sigh under the console. “I know you miss Avery. It’s great that she’s alright, but-”

“It’s a distraction,” Ryel interrupts. It’s the first time I’ve heard him speak for awhile. He sits in the pilot’s chair, eyes locked on the path in front of him. “We need your brother.”

I sink into my chair. “We’ll get him. She knows where he is.”

“I hope you’re right.”

I’m about to respond when I feel my bracelet start to hum. Before I know it, the Ridium tugs on my wrist, pulling my arm forward where it connects with the top of the navigation console. I jerk forward.

Eva bolts from her work at the sound of the bracelet clanking on the metal. “What was that?”

I stare at Ryel while trying to pry my wrist from the console. “See? I told you. Sometimes it does this.”

His eyes slit, then widen as something shoots past our shuttle. A red flash of light hurtles by my window over the ocean. I turn my head to catch a glimpse of it, but before I can make out any details, it’s gone.

Maybe I imagined it.

The bracelet falls still. I pull back, rubbing my arm.

Ryel grips the steering. “Crimson.”

“You saw it too?” I swallow. I’m hesitant to tell him what I’m thinking because I don’t really want to know the answer. But as far as I’m concerned, the flash could only be one thing. “Ryel,” I start. “Have you ever heard of a red Pearl?”

His thin brows furrow. His fingers tighten. “No.”

“I… I found one last night. It broke. But, I didn’t do anything. It broke by itself. And it made my bracelet go crazy, like right now.”

“There was a Drifter inside?”

I nod. “A man. I thought maybe he was… ”

Eva crouches beside me. “Maybe he was what?”

I shrug. “Never mind. I don’t think he recognized me. I’m not sure he even knew what was going on. But the way he stared at me… He didn’t fly away like all of the other Drifters.”

Ryel’s shoulders tense. “Do you know why Pearls are green?”

“No.”

“The energy that bursts from our bodies when the Pearl is broken is the same substance that keeps us alive on our long journey through space. It’s filled with nutrients and stabilizers, some of which are even found on Earth. Like Ridium, the chemicals necessary to create Pearls are pulled from Haven itself. The planet’s core was a deep green, even with a surface of brown and gold.

“It’s this same energy that grants us the ability of flight for several hours after we’ve landed. It heals our wounds and makes adapting to the environment easier. I still have the smallest trace of it inside my body.”

“That’s why I survived.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh,” I start. “Last spring. I fell off a twelve-story building. And lived. There was Pearl energy around me.”

“It only protects those from Haven,” he continues. “In its purest form, it would have a destructive effect on your friends here. This protection is the green luminescence you see. The burst, when the Pearl is broken and the Drifter freed, requires extra energy. This is absorbed by your brother and transformed into a common element on Earth.”

“Fire,” I mutter.

“Crimson would signal a different form of energy. Something I’m not familiar with. Something we may not have any control over.”

A chill runs down my neck. “The Authority?”

“Perhaps.” He pauses. “We’ll keep an eye on it. The Ridium around your wrist seems to respond. Be aware.”

I let my arm fall to my side. It’s hard not to be aware when the thing pulls my entire body forward.

Ryel glances at the console. “I’m going to speed up. We’ll find your brother today. The Resistance wants the two of you together.”

I shift in my seat. “They’ve said this specifically?”

“You heard the message from your mother. You were granted the power. The Key and the Catalyst. One to open the Pearls, and one to channel the energy. Your world is better protected when you’re together.”

A loud hiss fills the cockpit.

“Crap!” Eva drops the wires she’s holding. “They’ve done it.”

Words interrupt the hiss streaming from the circular speaker in the center of the console. “Academy to shuttle 743. Do you hear me?” A pause. “Academy to shuttle 743.”

Even through the static, I know exactly who’s voice it is.

“Are you there, shuttle 743?”

Agent Morse sounds muffled, but I can picture his face in the room with me now. His phony encouragement. His condescending smile.

“We don’t have to respond.” Eva stands back. “He won’t hear us if we don’t press reply. Not that it does us a lot of good. If I wasn’t able to get the communication blocked, the radar’s probably a lost cause.”

Agent Morse continues. “We’d appreciate it if you’d let us know whether you’re okay or not. I know that’s you in there, Jesse. And your friend. We have Skandar back onboard. He won’t talk, but we can put two and two together ourselves.

“Your radar’s muddy,” he says. “I’m sure you’re aware. But we’ll find you. Alkine’s determined.”

Eva rubs her eyes. “I did the best I could.”

Morse coughs on the other end. “No reply? I hope you’re alright. You better have a damn good reason for all of this, Jesse. You don’t know what you’re inviting here. Things aren’t as black and white as you wish they were. You think you’re the hero in this, don’t you? You ever consider the contrary? That’s what a good strategist does. They weigh all the possibilities before jumping headfirst into battle.”

Ryel stands. “Is this shuttle equipped with weaponry?”

Eva’s face tenses. “You mean blasters?”

“That’ll do.” His eyes settle on an open compartment at the far corner of the cockpit. “Ah, I see. Take the steering, please.”

As Eva sits in the pilot’s seat, I watch Ryel move to grab a small pistol. He barely examines it before turning back to the console.

“Still no answer?” Morse pauses. “Okay. Have it your way. But just know that this was a mistake. You’re going to regret this, swear to god.”

Before he can finish, Ryel opens fire on the speaker. One shot and the thing explodes in a puff of dark smoke. Ryel quickly puts out the meager flames with the sleeve of his shirt, then sets the pistol beside the wreckage.

“There,” he says. “We don’t need to listen to that anymore.”

We cross the rest of the Pacific without any Academy interruptions. Eva disables our radar, though it’s probably too late to matter much.

Though Ryel seems constantly alert, Eva and I fall asleep several times throughout the journey. I need it. We’ve been going nonstop for hours now.

We climb into Skyship Territory to avoid Unified Party checkpoints before crossing into America. Border hopping-exactly what got the Academy in trouble in the first place. Of course, it’s easier to sneak by in a shuttle our size. The problem is we’re flying blind. Without the radar, everything’s more of a guess than a certainty.