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‘Now look what you did,’ Setrákus Ra chides.
The Mogadorian charm, I realize, even as I start to feel faint. Any damage done to Setrákus Ra is instead done to me.
Five looks horrified by what he’s done. Before he can react, Setrákus Ra picks him up by the throat and slams the back of his head violently against the hull of the nearest ship. He does this again and again, until Five’s body is limp.
Then, callously, Setrákus Ra tosses his unconscious body out the open doors of the Anubis. I try to reach Five with my telekinesis, but I’m too weak. His body plummets out of sight, towards the Earth below.
I collapse to the floor, blood seeping through my fingers. All the strength has gone out of me. I won’t be escaping from the Anubis today. My grandfather has won.
Setrákus Ra stands over me, his human form returned to normal, although his suit is ruined. He shakes his head, his smile like a disappointed teacher.
‘Come now, Ella,’ he says. ‘We must put this episode behind us.’
I hold up my blood-covered hand for him to see. ‘Why? Why did you do this to me?’
‘It was the only way for you to learn that Mogadorian Progress is more important than even your own life,’ he replies. Setrákus Ra gathers me up in his arms. As I start to lose consciousness, he whispers gently, ‘You won’t disobey Beloved Leader again, will you?’
23
Adam’s flight plan is to take us down the Atlantic coast until we hit Florida, then dip back west over the gulf and finally arrive at the southeastern tip of Mexico. With the Skimmer flying at maximum speed and staying low enough to avoid any other aircraft, the trip should take about four hours.
It’s a quiet ride. I lean back in my seat and watch the coast ebb and flow beneath us. Adam doesn’t say much of anything; he keeps his eyes straight ahead, occasionally adjusting our course when his systems pick up another aircraft. Dust naps on the floor at his feet. As for Marina, she remains typically rigid, her whole fear-of-flying thing not getting any better with a Mogadorian at the controls.
‘You know, you can rest for a few hours,’ Adam suggests eventually, his tone cautious. I’d already been close to dozing off, so he must be talking to Marina. She’s sitting straight backed, a slight chill coming off her. She must be looming right in the corner of Adam’s eye.
Marina seems to consider this for a moment, then leans forward so that her head is nearly on Adam’s shoulder. He raises an eyebrow, but otherwise keeps his hands on the controls.
‘The last trip Six and I made south was less than a week ago,’ Marina says, her voice measured. ‘We found out too late that we had a traitor traveling with us. I ended up stabbing him in the eye. That was me being merciful.’
‘I know what happened in Florida,’ Adam says. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I want you to know what will happen if you betray us,’ Marina replies, leaning back. ‘And don’t tell me to rest.’
Adam looks over at me for help, but I shrug my shoulders and turn away. Marina’s still figuring out just how angry she wants to be, and I’m not going to get in her way. Besides, I don’t think putting a little fear in our Mogadorian companion is such a bad thing.
I assume he’s just going to let the conversation die, but after a few minutes Adam speaks up. ‘Yesterday, for the first time I picked up a sword that’s been in my family for generations. I’d never been allowed to touch it before, only admire it from afar. It belonged to my father, General Andrakkus Sutekh. He was fighting Number Four – John. I drove that sword through my father’s back and killed him.’
Adam delivers this speech matter-of-factly, like he’s reading the news. I blink at him, then glance over my shoulder at Marina. She’s looking down at the floor, deep in thought. As the chill rising off her begins to die down, Dust picks himself up and goes over to her. The wolf rests his head in Marina’s lap.
‘Cool story,’ I say to Adam when it becomes painfully clear that someone needs to break the silence. ‘I’ve never known anyone who carried around a sword before.’
‘Cool,’ Adam repeats, frowning. ‘My point is, you don’t need to doubt my loyalty.’
‘I’m sorry you had to do that to your father,’ Marina says after a moment. ‘I didn’t know.’
‘I’m not,’ Adam replies brusquely. ‘But thanks for the sympathy.’
To break the tension, I start messing with some of the dials on the Skimmer’s console. ‘Does this thing have a freaking radio, or what? Are we just going to tell death stories the whole way?’
Adam is quick to readjust the dials right after me. I think I catch him smiling a little, probably relieved that the death-threat portion of the trip is over.
‘There’s no radio,’ he says. ‘I can hum some Mogadorian standards, if you’d like.’
‘Oh, barf,’ I reply, and Marina snickers in the backseat.
I realize Adam is giving me a funny look, his angular face more open than I’ve seen, that defensive stoicism he wears stripped away. For a moment, he almost looks comfortable being up here with two of his mortal enemies.
‘What?’ I ask, and he hurriedly looks away. I realize his mind was elsewhere.
‘Nothing,’ he says, almost wistful. ‘For a second there, you just reminded me of someone I used to know.’
The rest of the flight south is uneventful. I manage to doze off once or twice, although never for long. With Dust snuggled up against her, it seems like Marina is finally able to relax. Adam refrains from humming any Mogadorian anthems.
We’re flying over the tropical forest of Campeche, Mexico, just another hour away from the Loric Sanctuary supposedly hidden amid the ruins of an ancient Mayan city, when a red warning light begins to flash on the Skimmer’s translucent windshield. I only notice it when Adam tenses up.
‘Damn it,’ he says, and immediately starts flicking switches on the Skimmer’s control panel.
‘What is it?’
‘Someone’s locked on to us.’
The cameras mounted on the Skimmer send
images to our screen, views from the underside of the ship and behind us becoming visible. I don’t see anything but cloudless blue sky and the dense canopy of the forest beneath us.
‘Where are they coming from?’ Marina asks, squinting as she peers through the window.
‘There,’ Adam says, jabbing his finger at the screen. On it, a Mogadorian scout ship just like ours drifts slowly towards us from below. Its roof is painted in overlapping shades of greens, camouflaged to match the forest it detached from.
‘Can we outrun it?’ Marina asks.
‘I can try,’ Adam replies, pulling down the lever to give our Skimmer some more juice.
‘Or we can just shoot it down,’ I suggest.
As we pick up a little speed, the blinking red light on the console multiplies into four blinking red lights. There are more of them. Two identical Skimmers rise up from the jungle right in front of us, another along our side. The first still sits right on our tail. Hemmed in, Adam has no choice but to stop. The other Skimmers surround us.
‘They all have guns, too, right?’ Marina asks.
‘Yes,’ Adam replies. ‘We’re at a distinct disadvantage.’
‘Not quite,’ I say, and focus on the sky outside. What was cloudless a moment ago slowly begins to darken, clouds rolling in at my beckoning.
‘Hold on,’ Adam warns. ‘We don’t want to give away you’re all on board.’
‘You’re sure they won’t shoot us down?’
‘Ninety per cent,’ Adam says.
I let go of the storm I was whipping up, allowing the clouds to drift through the sky along their natural course. A second later, a shrill beep emanates from our dashboard.
‘They’re hailing us,’ Adam says. ‘They want to talk.’
Another plan has occurred to me, one that doesn’t involve fighting a midair battle against bad odds.
‘You said you’re some general’s kid, right?’ I say to Adam. ‘So can’t you, like, throw your weight around or something?’
As Adam considers this, the dashboard communicator bleats again.
