Nick James - Skyship Academy

As this happens, a figure emerges from the top of the Pearl, shooting up into the sky like an arrow until it’s well out of sight. It was humanoid, I think, but too blurry to tell-like it hadn’t quite flickered to life yet. I’m not sure anybody else saw it against the blinding energy. I’m not even sure if it was real, myself.

The Pearl energy finds a home in the circuits and transformers throughout the area, and soon we’re left with nothing. No more Pearl-just empty air and stillness.

The night is quiet once more, with one big difference. The guards below us lie in piles, unconscious in the alleyway. I hope they’re breathing.

I survey the scene around me-the blanket of broken glass, the blown-out windows-and realize what I’ve just done.

My fingers hum with residual energy. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

Avery starts off down the remaining steps, stunned into silence. I follow close behind, eager to escape the alleyway and get away from the bodies. Too much damage. Too easy for them to find us again.

As I take the final step into the alleyway, Avery grabs my shoulder and pulls me close to her, hugging me tightly. “You’re amazing,” she whispers.

I keep my arms at my sides, breathing hard. When she releases me, the shock of what just happened begins to sink in. I crane my neck upward, looking between the two buildings at the narrow strip of stars so far away. The alarms continue to rumble through the city.

“I don’t know what I am,” I whisper back, shaking my still-buzzing hand in the cool night air. “Let’s get out of here.”

She nods. We take off running through the corridor, leaving the chaos of the alleyway behind us.

Cassius balanced on the tips of his toes, peering out the slit of a window at the top of the cell. He couldn’t see much beyond the siding of the closest building. There was a street below. From his vantage point he could only make out the very edge.

Alarms rumbled along his ribcage. The Pearl Warning System. He recognized it immediately, though there was no telling how close the thing was to the city.

He’d been stupid and careless, allowing Fisher to get the jump on him. Part of him conceded that he deserved to be in the cell after underestimating the guy, but that didn’t mean that he was about to surrender. He’d contacted the head of security seconds after being locked up. They were taking their time.

He knew he had to stop Fisher and the girl from heading out of the city. If Madame found out that their escape was his fault, there would be consequences. He’d seen it before-confident trainees reduced to whimpering children after a meeting with Madame. What she said or did to them was a mystery, but the results spoke for themselves. No, he could not let Fisher and the girl get away.

He frowned. The girl.

She’d made an already complicated mission even more treacherous. She’d known to stop him at the elevators back in the Academy. And the way she’d looked at him in the hallway… it was as if she knew who he was. Cassius had never seen her before. He’d need to be careful.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside, nearing the cell door. Good. They were coming.

He rested his heels back on the ground and turned away from the window. But something caught his eye outside, stopping him.

He recognized it immediately, the reason for the warning alarm.

Like a falling star, the Pearl plunged toward the building. Its radiance grew stronger the nearer it came.

He analyzed its descent, amazed. With all the empty Fringe space, Pearls didn’t often fall inside Chosen Cities. It was considered a good luck omen when they did, though a dangerous one. Worse yet, this Pearl seemed to be heading straight for the security building.

Cassius watched as it grew in size, unable to turn away from the window even though he knew the danger of staying close.

Then the Pearl made an unusual change in direction, curving past his cell and down to the street below. He’d never seen a Pearl curve before. Something was wrong.

He grabbed onto the thin windowsill and craned his neck to look down at the alley, but couldn’t find an angle where he could discern anything of note.

So he waited, impatient. There was nothing worse than a fallen Pearl with nobody to capture it. He longed to hold it, to be the first to touch it.

The lock slid open behind him and a guard pulled on the cell door. Before he could get it completely open, an explosion from outside rattled the building.

A blinding green energy coursed through the rectangle window, throwing Cassius backward into the guard’s legs. The guard stumbled into the hallway, crashing against the wall.

The energy lingered only a second before disappearing into the air. All was still once more.

Cassius rubbed his neck and waited for his breath to come back before standing up and returning to the window.

Two figures darted off to the left. Fisher and the girl. They’d be heading to the Chute, probably. Quickest way out.

He dusted off his jacket and prepared for a sprint. He’d need to be fast.

On his way out of the cell, he stepped over the guard. “You were late,” he muttered before racing full-speed down the hallway and out the open door of the emergency exit.

“Move it, Jesse!” Avery shouts back as we bound up a short flight of stairs to the Chute Station. I don’t know where she gets off throwing orders around after what happened in the cell, but right now my number one goal is to get out of this city. The two of us will talk later.

As I join her on the waiting platform, I watch the Chute crawl toward us, a thin white monorail approaching like a snake. They say these things can travel up to 150 miles an hour when they get out of the city. It’s a good thing, too. The speedier, the better.

Finding the nearest station had been a hassle in itself. Tight alleyways gave way to tighter streets, while monolithic buildings stood watch on all sides like sentinels. I don’t see how people know where they’re going around here.

The Chute blows my hair to the side as its front end passes by and stops beside the platform. Circular doors on each car whoosh open and crowds of people pour out, rushing past us to the exit queues. I spin around to see government officials scanning the wrists of the passengers as they exit the station and head into the city.

“You don’t have some fancy ID code, do you?” I whisper to Avery.

She shakes her head. “They removed it before I came up to the Academy.”

I groan. Without codes we’ve got no credit. This is gonna be a stolen ride.

A crowd of waiting passengers fills in around us. We stay in the center and join the current, hands in pockets. Boarding this thing probably isn’t the safest plan ever, but we don’t have a lot of options.

When the car empties, a pair of scanner guns pop out from inside. Travelers push their way onto the Chute, wrists up to display their ID sockets. Blue lasers brush over codes with a series of electronic beeps. Avery and I deliberately keep our hands in our pockets as we squeeze in between passengers, hoping that there aren’t any security cameras watching.

If they don’t catch us coming on, they’ll get us for sure when we exit. We might be able to fool a laser. A government official won’t be so easy.

We board the Chute without setting off any alarms and find two corner seats in the back. I slump next to the window, making myself as invisible as possible. I peer out at the city, focusing on the third-floor window of a neighboring office building. Rows of desks stretch beyond the glass. Late night workers plug away at computer boards inside. Mass joyless-kinda like Visitation Day.