Chapter Seven

 

The pounding on the shuttle door broke Maxim out of the happy moment that he was sharing with Ivy. He turned toward the door, his muscles tightening with anticipation.

“Maxim!”

The voice coming through the thick shuttle door was muffled by the layers of metal. He stepped closer to the door.

“Maxim!” the voice shouted again, louder this time.

The shout came through to him enough that Maxim was able to recognize the voice.

“Athan?” he called out.

There was more pounding on the door and he heard Athan, Lynx, and Rain all yelling at him together. He crossed to the control panel beside the door and inputted the code that Elise had given him. The lights around the top of the door went through a series of changes, Maxim put in the second code, the lights changed again, and he heard the internal locking mechanism within the door release. He put in the final code and pulled on the handle to the door. It opened and Athan rushed inside, followed by Lynx and Rain. Maxim stepped out of the way to let them inside. He leaned out of the door to check for others who may have also returned to the shuttle, but the dark desert was empty. As he closed the door behind them he hoped that the other groups had the supplies that they needed to stay safe on the unfamiliar planet in the dark.

“We need your help,” Athan said as Maxim turned around to face them.

Behind the older man Maxim could see Ivy sitting up straighter on the lounge chair. She crossed her arms over her belly, seeming to provide both protection and a level of concealment that would allow her to fulfill her goal of keeping the baby a secret during the war.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Kyven and Emerie are in danger,” Athan said.

Maxim immediately felt fear go through his heart.

“What’s happened?” he asked. “Where is my brother?”

“We met up with them outside of the compound and started to explore together,” Rain explained. “There’s a quarry just beyond the hills behind the compound. We went into it an encountered a Valdician. While fighting it, some of the rocks collapsed and Kyven and Emerie fell through.”

“We weren’t able to reach them,” Lynx continued.

Maxim tried to listen to all of them, speaking one right after another as if wanting to relay the message as quickly as they could and were impatient with one another.

“They’re under the rocks?” Ivy asked, sounding concerned.

“There seemed to be an underground cavern,” Athan said. “They were safe when we left. But that was hours ago. We need to get back to them as soon as we can to get them out. We don’t know what they might be facing down there. The body of the Valdician was lying on the rocks above them when we left. If others come for it, Kyven and Emerie will be completely at their mercy.”

Maxim nodded his agreement and crossed the room to pick up his bag again.

“Did you see any of the others on your way back?” he asked.

Lynx shook his head.

“No,” he said. “Emerie and Kyven are the only ones we saw since leaving the shuttle.”

“They should be heading back here soon,” Maxim said. “It’s too dark out there for them to do much more investigation of the planet. Lynx, wait here while Athan and I get more supplies. If you hear any of the others get back, confirm their identity and I will let them in. Hopefully we will have more help before we go.”

Maxim and Athan rushed out of the common room and toward the small storage room in the back corner. Once inside, Maxim lifted a narrow panel in the floor that led to a winding staircase. They followed the stairs down into the larger storage area of the shuttle that Elise had showed him as they prepared for their exploration of the planet. Rows of metal shelves lined the walls, holding supplies from food to tools. Maxim opened his bag and filled it with everything that he could, using a strap to add more tools to the outside. Athan followed his lead, gathering more of the tools and food for his own bag. They both filled their arms with further supplies for the others that would come along with them and were starting up the stairs when Maxim heard Lynx calling for him.

Maxim rushed up the stairs into the common room.

“It’s Zyyr and Lila,” he said.

Maxim walked up to the door.

“Zyyr?” he called out.

“It’s me, Maxim,” the warrior called into him.

Maxim went through the process of unlocking the door again and opened it. Zyyr and Lila stepped inside. He quickly explained the situation to the warrior and handed him some of the supplies that he had carried up from the storage bay. He wished that Nylek had come back, too, and that Oro was there. He reminded himself that Oro was on his way to Earth to rescue Pyra, Eden, and the others and knew that that responsibility was vital to their success. The four of them would be enough. They had to be enough.

“Ivy, stay here with Lila and Rain.”

“I want to go with you,” Ivy protested.

Maxim gave her a stern, directed look. He shook his head, knowing that his expression would relay what he wanted to say.

“You need to stay here,” he said. “Eat and relax, and get something ready for everyone to eat when we get back. If you can, make something that we can eat in the morning.” He could see that she was still feeling reluctant to remain behind while they went to the quarry. He softened his eyes and reached for her hand, pressing his lips to it. “We all have to take care of ourselves,” he said softly. “We need to rest, eat, and be prepared for whatever tomorrow will bring.”

His words seemed to get through to her and she nodded. Maxim gathered her Ivy in his arms and hugged her tightly.

“Be careful,” she whispered into his hair.

“I will be,” he replied.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said. He kissed her cheek and lowered his voice even further. “Both of you.”

Maxim released Ivy and turned to the men waiting at the door.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes, Maxim,” Lynx replied.

“Let’s go.”

The men walked out of the door and down into the desert sand. Maxim recoiled from the cold air that had settled over the planet after the sun set and reached into his bag. He pulled out a thick cloak he had taken from the storage bay and placed it around his shoulders, pulling the hood up over his head and securing the front tightly with a row of metal clasps. He had another of the cloaks in his bag, ready to give to his brother when they got him out of the quarry. Maxim drew in a breath at the thought and pushed his feet to move faster along the chilled sand. They had to get him out. Kyven had to be alright. They owed it to Aegeus for both of them to be safe and ready for him when he arrived on Penthos so that they were finally able to face down their shared enemy together, just as they always should have.

 

Rain gave the door handle a hard tug and sighed when it didn’t budge. Ivy shook her head.

“Maxim secured it,” she said. “There’s no way to get in or out without the access codes and only he and Elise have them.”

“I know,” Rain said. “I just had to try.”

She had barely gotten the words out when the lights above the door flashed and Ivy heard the click of the locking mechanism within the door again. She knew that it couldn’t be Maxim. They had been gone for less than an hour, and Rain had already warned them that it would take hours for them to get to the quarry and back. She stood and crossed to the door just as it opened and a heavily cloaked figure stepped in. Ivy gasped and took a step back, but the figure pushed the hood off of its head, revealing Nylek beneath. Elise stepped inside behind him, another of the hooded cloaks tied around her to accommodate her smaller frame.

“What’s going on?” Ivy asked.

Elise pulled the robe away from her body, seeming like she was trying to get it away from her as quickly as she could. She dropped it to the floor and kicked it out of the way.

“It’s cold out there,” Nylek said. “We encountered Valdicians who had robes that we needed. We have them now.”

The warrior spoke sternly and without emotion. It told Ivy that he wasn’t going to elaborate on what had happened when they were exploring the planet, and she wasn’t going to push him. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know what they had faced or how they came to be wearing the robes.

“Where are the others?” Nylek asked.

“They’ve gone to help Kyven and Emerie at the quarry behind the compound,” Ivy said.

Nylek pulled his hood back up over his head.

“Where is the quarry?” he asked.

“It is more than two hours’ walk away,” Rain said.

“Where is the quarry?” Nylek repeated.

Rain explained how to get the quarry and without another word, Nylek stepped back through the door. Ivy watched him walk out into the desert and again saw the shifting silhouettes of figures in the distance, only the faint shimmer of handheld lights identifying their position. She wanted to call out to Nylek to warn him, but she didn’t want to announce his presence. Hoping that he would be safe on his journey alone, Ivy closed the door and let Elise step up to secure it.

Rain suddenly let out an exasperated sound.

“I just feel so stuck here,” she said and walked over to the window to stare out into the darkness beyond for a few seconds. She then turned and settled into one of the chairs that faced into the center of the room. “You know, the first time that I was on this planet, I thought that I knew everything. I thought that we had done all of our research and we were going to be able to just come here, storm the compound, command the Validicians to let the prisoners go, and then take them into custody to turn over to the galactic authorities. Then we got here and so quickly we realized that we knew nothing. We weren’t prepared at all. But we did absolutely everything in our power to help the prisoners and to survive before we were forced to leave. Now I’m back here and I feel like there’s even less that I can do. Members of our team are in danger and I’m sitting around in this shuttle just letting whatever is going to happen to them happen.”

“Then let’s do something,” Ivy said.

Rain looked at her with a startled expression in her eyes.

“What?”

Ivy looked at the other three women.

“You said that when you came here the first time you didn’t know anything, but that you tried anyway. That’s not the way it is now.”

“I know. I’m here rather than out there trying to help.”

“No,” Ivy said, shaking her head. “It’s different this time because you do know something. When you first came here, you had one mission in mind and you thought that you knew exactly how it was going to work out. Now you know that that is not the way it will work, that it won’t be easy and that you don’t know what we may be facing.”

“Exactly,” Rain said, sounding even more defeated.

“But you came anyway,” Ivy said directedly. “You knew that whatever is out here is something that you have no real way of understanding or preparing for, but you came anyway.” She looked at Lila. “We all did. This isn’t our job or something that we’re obligated to do. We came here because we chose to. We made the decision that we weren’t going to be left behind.”

“We didn’t choose to come here,” Rain argued. “We were going to Earth to rescue the others. We ended up here because Ryan and the Valdicians under his control redirected us here.”

“Just like they did before,” Ivy said. “You never intended to go to Uoria. You intended to go from here back to Earth, but the Valdicians and the Covra redirected you to Uoria. You might not have thought about it, but in the back of your mind you knew that it was always a possibility that what we had planned wouldn’t be what happened. Yet you decided to come anyway. So are we just going to sit here and wait for them to come back? Are we going to let them threaten our lives, our men, our families, our future?”

“What can we do?” Lila asked.

Her voice was so soft and tender that Ivy nearly didn’t hear her, but when she looked at her, she could see the determination staring back at her.

“We do as Maxim said. We eat, we refresh ourselves, and we get food ready for the rest of the team when they get back to the shuttle and the morning. Then we gather supplies and we go after them. We’re strong. If we encounter the Valdicians or even any of the hybrids, we can fight. Our mates have taught us to be brave and given us the weapons that we need to protect ourselves…and them.”

The other women exchanged glances and nodded.

“Good. Elise, make sure the entire ship is secured. Rain, come with me and we’ll find something to eat. Lila, keep watch through the window. If you see anyone coming closer to the shuttle, tell Elise so that she can close down the shields.”

Ivy started out of the common room toward the galley, Rain close behind her. They opened the massive cooling chest along one wall and took out several trays of food prepared and frozen by the crew before leaving Earth. Ivy had just placed them in the oven to heat when she heard the whispering sound of a door opening behind her. She turned sharply, a knife gripped in her hand, and saw a panel of the wall sliding out of place. Three nervous-looking men stood in the gap, staring out at her.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

Just then Elise strode into the room.

“The rest of the shuttle is secure,” she said. “I activated the hidden emergency panels so that we can sweep the panic rooms.”

Ivy gestured toward the open panel and Elise looked at it, her eyes widening as she saw the people inside.

“Avery?” she said. “Elon? Michael? What are you doing?”

“Who are these people?” Ivy asked, still holding the knife out toward them.

“They are the captain and crew of this shuttle,” Elise explained. I thought the Valdicians killed them before we landed.”

“When we realized that we were being redirected, we went into the panic room,” one of the men said.

“You hid?” Elise asked. “You left me behind and hid rather than waiting to find out what was happening?”

“It’s protocol, Elise,” another of the men said. “This isn’t the first time that a ship has been hijacked. You know that the first time a ship was redirected it was lost and everyone on it died. Protocol states that if there is a potential hijacking situation, the crew is to immediately go into the panic rooms and try to make contact with the Earth authorities.”

“Nyx23?” Rain asked.

The man looked at her quizzically.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“You mentioned the ship that was redirected. You said that everyone on it died. Were you talking about Nyx23?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Yes. They never returned. Since then the government and travel companies have been working to minimize the risk of more lives lost.”

He sounded defiant, almost angry, but Ivy could see that whatever emotion was in his voice was nothing compare to that in Rain’s eyes.

“They never returned,” she said. “But they didn’t die.”

“How could you possibly know that?” he asked.

“Because I was on that ship.”

“That’s impossible,” the man stammered. “That was a hundred years ago.”

“More than 115,” Rain said, “and I have been alive every one of them. Even when I couldn’t move, even when I didn’t know what was happening around me, I was alive. Those creatures that hijacked the shuttle…those were the same kind that held the prisoners on this planet and that redirected us to Uoria all those years ago. I never hid.”

“We were trained to follow protocol,” he said, almost as they were the only words that he could say, that he was simply regurgitating something that he had heard so many times before it was the only thing that he was able to think of in the situation.

“Don’t talk to me about protocol,” Ivy said, suddenly infuriated at the men who had been hiding in the panic room since they recognized that the ship had been redirected. “You have no idea what’s happening. This planet is swarming with hybrid creatures bred by a man who wants to take over the universe, and if we don’t stop him, he will. There are six species trying to come together to defeat him and protect Earth, Uoria, and every other planet in this galaxy and beyond. Not a single one of us has been hiding and we aren’t going to start now. Now you have a choice. You can either go back into that panic room and be afraid, or you can come out, show some courage, and fight.”