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Thirty feet up, Kira plunged her hand into her backpack again and pulled out a large button. She slammed it against the rock face. In a second, she was enveloped in a thick gray cloud. For the moment, she was invisible again. She ducked behind a protruding section of rock and hung there motionless. When the cloud cleared, she looked down. Her heart was pounding.
Irina was nowhere in sight.
CHAPTER 89
The Bering Sea
THE SUB WAS resting on a ledge forty meters down. I heard the engine sputter and die. The water in the cabin was up to my chest. The pump was no match for the surge. The electronics under the console crackled and sparked like underwater fireworks. I was about to be drowned or electrocuted, maybe both.
My heart was thumping and my mind was racing. I flailed around and grabbed the wheel on the inside of the hatch lid. I turned it to the left as hard as I could. I managed to loosen it, but I couldn’t push the hatch open. The water pressure from above was too much. I heard more rivets popping. It was like the entire Bering Sea was out to crush me. My lungs burned. I was floating inside the cabin now, kicking off the back of the seat to keep my head above water. The water bubbled up to fill the last air pocket. This was it. I tilted my chin back and took one final gulp of air.
As my head went under, I heard a series of muffled beeps, about one second apart. Like a countdown. My only thought was that the sub had been programmed to self-destruct. Which meant I was about to be blown to pieces. I closed my eyes tight and waited for the blast. I wondered if I’d feel it, or if it would just be over. In that moment, I wasn’t afraid anymore, just frustrated and mad. I let out one last scream as I went under.
Suddenly, the hatch blew off. The impact rocked me back against the inside of the hull. In less than a second, the pressure equalized. There was a hole above me—and open water. I grabbed my backpack, pushed myself through the hatch, and started kicking toward daylight.
CHAPTER 90
Eastern Russia
EXHAUSTED, KIRA PULLED herself over the top of the cliff. She lay flat on the rock ledge, breathing hard. When she turned her head, she was staring across a narrow plateau covered with dirt and grassy stubble. The tree line was about twenty yards away. That was the cover she needed. She got to her knees and steadied herself.
Suddenly, a violent kick to the ribs knocked her backward, almost over the edge.
“Welcome home, Meed,” said Irina.
Kira looked up. This close, Irina’s face showed the years. But the voice was the same—and it took Kira back. For a second, she flashed back to that bedroom fifteen years ago. The terror in her parents’ eyes. The blood on the bedsheets.
“This is not home,” she said.
Kira got back onto her knees and took another kick, this one to the head. As she went down again, her backpack slipped off her shoulder onto the dirt. She reached for it, fingers stretched out. Irina booted the bag off the cliff.
“No toys,” said Irina. “Just us.” She bent down and lifted Kira’s head roughly by the hair. Kira spit a string of saliva and blood and wrenched herself free. She rolled hard to the left and struggled to her feet.
Irina was circling, knees bent, arms flexed and ready. Kira aimed a kick at her knee and heard cartilage pop. Irina didn’t even react. She stepped forward and swung her leg at Kira’s midsection. It connected—hard. Kira crumpled as the breath was knocked out of her. She raised her arms to block the next blow, but Irina blasted through her defense, throwing her onto her back. In a blink, she had her hands around Kira’s throat.
With her last surge of strength, Kira hooked her leg under Irina’s left knee. Irina grunted as Kira flipped her and pinned her wrists to the ground. As Irina struggled to lift her head, her eyes shifted. Kira turned and saw a tall boy in tac gear emerging from the edge of the tree line. His right arm was raised in a throwing position, a knife in his hand.
Kira waited for his release, then rolled hard to the side, carrying Irina along with her. The knife buried itself in Irina’s thigh. Irina’s lips tightened, but she didn’t make a sound. She pulled the blade out and slashed it toward Kira’s throat. Kira knocked it away. They rolled again. With a powerful shove, Irina pushed herself loose. Her momentum carried her over the edge of the cliff. At the last second, she grabbed tight onto Kira’s wrists, dragging her across the rocky ledge.
Kira lay flat and dug her shoes into the dirt, but Irina’s weight pulled her forward, until they were face to face, with Irina dangling in the air. Irina’s sleeve was ripped open, exposing her angry scar. She stared up at Kira, eyes bright with fury.
“Your parents were weak,” said Irina, spitting out the words. “And the weak need to be weeded out.”
Kira felt her arms and back straining from Irina’s weight.
“Their blood is my blood,” said Kira. “Does that make me weak, too?”
Irina glanced down the cliff at the boulders below. She looked at Kira.
“Not weak,” said Irina. “Just needy. We could be stronger as a team, Meed. We could be unbeatable.”
“Sorry,” said Kira. “I have only myself, remember?”
She wrenched her wrists free and let Irina drop.
Kira rolled onto her back, gasping. In an instant, she saw the glint of a knife swinging down toward her chest.
CHAPTER 91
