Nick James - Skyship Academy

I watch as Eva tiptoes forward, grabbing something from inside the bag. A faint green light illuminates the back of the alley. Madame doesn’t see it. Yet.

“Okay,” I respond, trying not to stare at the Pearl Eva’s holding. “Okay, I give up. Just don’t shoot.”

Madame’s head cocks to the side, a suspicious frown on her face. “Into the cruiser.”

I nod and take a small step back. Eva comes closer.

Then Madame sees the glow coming from behind her. She spins around, but before she can do anything Eva hurls the Pearl into the air. It makes a wide arc above Madame’s head and shoots down to me.

I stretch out my right arm, tense my fingers, and stop it in mid-air.

The Pearl hovers between Madame and me, nearly blinding us in the dim alley. I motion for Eva to run back to the intersection. She lingers for a moment, watching me, before backing away.

Madame keeps her aim steady, approaching cautiously. “This isn’t funny, Jesse.”

I back up, focusing on keeping control of the Pearl. I wave my hand back and forth. The Pearl follows like a pendulum swinging in the air. Left, right. Left, right.

Madame watches, and for the first time I notice fear in her eyes. She knows what’s inside the Pearl, but I bet she doesn’t know what happens when it’s freed. Not firsthand.

I move my hand more dramatically and the Pearl follows course, slamming into the brittle walls on either side of us. Loose brick tumbles in piles onto the ground as the alley starts to cave in before me.

Madame stumbles back. “Stop it.”

I don’t. The Pearl continues to smack the walls with the force of a wrecking ball, adding to the pile of rubble in front of us. It’s nearly up to Madame’s waist now, blocking her path.

Then, just as I’m about to bring the entire alley down around her, I hear a gunshot and feel something prick my shoulder. I look down to see a silver dart lodged into my skin. She shot me. She actually shot me!

The Pearl wobbles in the air as my concentration fractures. Whatever’s in the dart races through my bloodstream. It’s all I can do to stay standing. Madame laughs. All other sounds fade into nothing.

I clench my fists and the world explodes in front of me.

A shower of rubble rains over Madame, burying everything in the alleyway-including her. The walls crumble around us as the Pearl energy tears through the derelict buildings, streaming out into the intersection. A glowing figure shoots into the sky, soaring up around the Academy and out of sight.

I fall backwards, watching as the Skyship’s hull absorbs the brunt of the Pearl’s force. Sheet lightning dances along the dark underbelly, illuminating the mist around Seattle. Just like that day-the day Cassius and I first landed on Earth.

Then, as the last of the energy dissipates, I lose consciousness.

She’s got me. She’s escaped somehow and she’s got me.

It’s the only thing running through my mind upon waking. My back’s pressed against a leather seat. A belt stretches over my chest.

I’m in a government cruiser. Never been inside one before, but the Unified Party emblems etched into the control panel are a dead giveaway.

Dark sky forms a wall outside the window. I turn to my left, praying to see Alkine. Eva. Skandar. One of the good guys.

Cassius.

I jerk away from him, my mind still on survival mode.

“Relax.” He glances over at me, frowning. “She’s not here.”

I watch him pilot the cruiser for a moment in silence. His hands grip the wheel tightly. His steely gaze focuses on the path ahead of him.

“You’ve been out for over an hour,” he mutters. “Tranquilizer. It’s meant to keep you down for longer.”

I cough. “Where are we?” My throat’s still clogged with dust from Seattle.

“Halfway over Kansas, according to the radar.” His eyes shift to my face, then back to the front window. “Wichita’s on your right-below us.”

I look down at the Surface-an unending abyss punctuated only by pinpricks of light far off in the distance. Directly below us sits a cocoon of white lights, stretching up from the ground like a bee’s nest. Wichita. Chosen City #27.

My mind flashes back to Seattle. The alleyway. “Are you-”

“I’m not taking you to the Lodge,” he interrupts. “Nobody’s taking you to the Lodge from the looks of it back there. They’re outnumbered. Despite all of Madame’s planning, the Skyship took her by surprise. I didn’t think it was possible to surprise her.”

I close my eyes and see the pile of rubble crashing down on Madame. The thought of it makes me sick. “Was she…? I mean, did I… ?”

“I didn’t check,” he replies. “I just left.”

I rub my eyes and try to wipe the image from memory. “She’s unconscious, that’s all. People like Madame don’t die.”

He scoffs. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d care.”

I look down at my lap for a moment. It’s not caring, definitely, but I don’t like the thought of killing anybody either. Even Madame. “Look, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Don’t apologize,” Cassius says, and that’s the end of that.

I shift in my seat, wondering if I should just shut up and let him do his thing. He’s not exactly the most approachable person in the world. But I can’t stay quiet. There’s too much I need to know. “So if we’re not going to the Lodge, where are we going?”

He sighs. “Somewhere people can’t find us.”

I groan inwardly. The last thing I want right now is another chase. My body couldn’t handle it. “Running again?”

“You got a problem with that?”

“I-” I catch myself and try to choose my words carefully, unsure what could set him off. “It’s just that… my friends. Avery.”

“She’s gone,” he replies. “They could’ve dragged her to any of the Unified Party’s compounds by now. Finding her would be impossible.” He pauses. “Your friends will be fine.”

I shake my head. “I should have been quicker. I should have stopped them from taking her.”

He frowns, his voice devoid of any expression. “You did what you had to do. You saved yourself. Now take a look at this.” He reaches down and grabs something from beside his seat. Before I can argue, he tosses Madame’s small black cube into my lap.

I catch it, expecting my muscles to strain. They don’t.

The cube’s unnaturally light, like paper or cardboard. I run my fingers across the smooth, cold exterior. It’s solid as stone, and seems like it’s been the same shape since the beginning of time. Not so, if what Madame said is true.

“Open it,” Cassius coaxes.

I glance at him in confusion. But then I remember the silver key around my neck. I lift the chain over my head and feel around the top of the cube for a keyhole.

Cassius reaches over and turns on the lighting panel above my seat. A dim glow falls on a narrow slit in the center of the cube. I grab the key and lower it into the hole.

That’s all I have to do.

Deep lines begin to form on the surface, starting from the center and spreading out on all four sides like a compass rose. It’s like watching an invisible knife cut through the material. Impossibly sharp. Within moments, the top of the cube’s portioned into four equal squares. The lines reach the edges and continue to cut down the sides of the cube. The key crumbles into dust, dissipating into the air. The roof of the cube blossoms out from the center, revealing an opening the size of my fist.

Cassius keeps one eye on the cube the entire time. When all the fanfare’s over, I shift my attention to him. He glances up at me, then back to the crumbled cube in my lap. “Go ahead.”

I nod, then cautiously reach through the hole and pull out a reflective disc the size of my palm. At first it looks like a hand mirror, but as soon as I touch it, an image flickers to life on the shiny surface.