Nick James - Crimson rising

The ground drops beneath us as the Skyship lurches downward. The thick metal of the door cracks behind me. Avery slips. She holds her head in her hands, protecting herself from oncoming rubble. The rows of orange lights blink frantically before settling. The ground stabilizes as the ship corrects itself. One power station deactivated. If I hit all of them, we’re going down.

I watch the last of the Pearl energy dissipate through the distant hole in the wall. The Drifter’s gone, knocked way off course. I pushed him away, maybe even killed him.

I help Avery to her feet. “Are you okay?”

She nods, visibly shaken. “I thought what you did last spring was something. That… that was amazing, Jesse.”

“Yeah?” I take a deep breath. “There’s more where that came from.” I glance behind me. I can see the empty generator through the cracks in the thick door. Scraps lay at my feet. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go break some Pearls.”

Cassius gunned the accelerator, arcing the Academy ship high into the stratosphere, far enough from Skyship Altair that it seemed a distant dot below him. He’d never driven an agent’s ship before. The controls were remarkably similar to those of a cruiser, but the speed was amplified. He could work wonders with this. He’d need to.

Last time he’d engaged Theo, the boy had the upper hand. He had control of the environment, even in his unstable mental state. The trick this time was to hit him first, draw blood before he could react. He knew precious little about Ridium, but it was certainly dangerous, especially under Theo’s control.

Cassius took stock of the weapons available to him. Cannons, mounted on the front underbelly. Tractor beams-useful only if he had the chance to pull Theo into the ship with him. A pair of missiles, though he doubted that human weaponry would be of much use against an alien substance like Ridium. If the black vessel was anything as strong as the bracelet around Cassius’s arm, he’d be fighting against the indestructible.

As he piloted the ship, his mind kept coming back to one thing. Pearls.

Matigo obviously feared them, or feared how they could be used. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have went to the trouble to send his own son to Earth as some sort of sting agent. He wouldn’t be after Fisher, either. If Fisher succeeded in finding more Drifters, Cassius hoped they knew what to do.

He took a deep breath and began to bring the ship down. Theo’s vessel appeared on the radar as a dark blotch, like a storm cloud ready to belch thunder and lightning. Cassius was directly on top of it now.

First, he’d unleash a volley of cannon blasts. If that didn’t work, he’d have to get closer. One way or another, he needed to engage Theo directly. If he couldn’t kill him, he’d hurt him. Weaken him until the Drifters could finish him off.

The ship gained speed as it cut through the air, descending like a dagger piercing the sky. The black, spherical vessel neared closer. Cassius waited until he could see it clearly before letting loose.

He fired a round right into the surface, spinning sideways to avoid crashing into the vessel. Explosions lit up the atmosphere around the sphere of darkness but left no mark. As soon as the smoke faded, Theo’s ship remained untouched, floating silently in the sky.

He rounded in a wide loop, ready to test the missiles. He doubted they would be any more effective, but he had to try everything before risking a closer encounter.

As he turned to approach the vessel, he noticed a quiver of movement from the darkness. He pulled a pair of specs from the cabinet overhead and slipped them onto his eyes, magnifying his vision twofold.

The blackness stirred in front of him like a monster ready to attack. He slowed his approach.

Out of nowhere, the vessel developed a long, snakelike arm. It flew from the darkness, extending a winding tendril through the sky, directly toward his ship.

Cassius cursed. In one motion, he released the missiles and pulled up, cutting a vertical climb back into safe territory as the black extension wound after him.

The missiles detonated along the shell of Theo’s vessel with little effect. Cassius brought the Academy ship upside down, spinning so that he could make a quick escape.

Too late.

The black tendril grabbed onto his stern with an awful clamp. Metal squealed behind him. He laid on the accelerator. It was no use. Within seconds, the entire ship yanked backward.

He slammed into the console, then forced a glance over his shoulder. He was expecting to see the entire ship tear away from him. Instead, a violent thud on the windshield sent him flying with enough force to snap his seatbelt. He hit the ground sideways and rolled to catch a glimpse of the windshield. A black film of Ridium blots out the sky.

All at once, the backward pull intensified. He tried to grab onto something, but it was too quick. He flew forward through the air and collided with the console again. The speed of the movement forced him into the windshield, dangerously close to the Ridium outside.

His bracelet clamped onto the wall of black, craving to rejoin the element. He stared at the doorway to the cabin, wishing he could escape. Theo had hold of the entire ship now. He could do anything he wanted. He could smash him like a piece of tin.

Cassius closed his eyes and succumbed to panic. He was miles above the Earth, closer and closer to a lunatic who could control everything around him. And all Cassius had was fire. Fire wouldn’t do anything up here, not against Matigo’s son.

A deep rumbling sounded underneath him, then a violent tearing as the Ridium ripped the Academy ship to pieces. The cabin door splayed open, eaten by an enormous black mouth of jagged teeth-a razorblade funnel that sucked Cassius in and spit him back out.

He landed hard on dark flooring. The familiar sheen gave the entire room a pristine feel. His bracelet sunk to the ground, forcing his arm with it.

Then, Theo’s voice. Nowhere, and everywhere all at once.

“So you lived,” he said.

Cassius flipped over so that he could stare at the ceiling. It was the same color as the floor, of course. Everything was. Smooth. Black. Alien.

His eyes darted around, searching for Theo. His right wrist kept him pinned to the ground, but he kicked his legs anyway, struggling to get up. “Where are you?” His voice sounded smaller than usual. He didn’t want to sound like this, not in front of Theo.

“You shouldn’t have been so nasty to me.” The boy’s voice rang out from somewhere behind him. “I remember everything. It doesn’t change what’s going to happen, but I could make it easier for you if we’d have been friends.” Cassius squirmed on the ground, trying to pull his hand free. “I know who you are. You’re not some poor junkie’s kid from the Fringes.”

“Surprise.”

Cassius heard footsteps. Then, out of nowhere, Theo appeared beside his left leg, arms crossed. Cassius tried to kick him, but Theo quickly fashioned a coil of Ridium from the ground, keeping his ankle in place.

Cassius glared at the kid. “Did you know the whole time?”

“Not before the swarm,” Theo responded. “Not before the crimson.”

“The red Drifter?”

“Matigo’s herald.” He nodded. “Sent to Earth to kick things off when my father was ready.”

“Where is he?” Cassius strained to look up at Theo. “Where’s Matigo?”

Theo crouched, one leg on either side of Cassius’s. His smile widened-that same sick expression he’d worn when they’d first met at the Lodge. “Anywhere. And everywhere.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A broken world like this one is so much easier to conquer.” He paused. “My father knows this. You’re all at war with each other, and you don’t even know what’s coming.”