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It was going to take them all.
If it broke through the atmosphere, I might never see her again.
I grabbed the nearest guardsman and snatched up his communicator and one of his knives. I ran toward the broken window and slid the knife through the strap on the back of the communicator. It was a powerful magnet that kept it firmly attached to the guardsman’s armor at all times.
I brought my arm back and threw the communicator as hard as I could.
It didn’t arch. It flew straight and true.
The ship engaged its rear thrusters and began to move away rapidly.
The communicator missed. But as it began to arch downward, the magnet engaged and it arched back up, attaching itself to the ship’s underside with a solid metallic thunk.
“Where will they take them?” Kal said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But if it’s on this planet, we’ll know.”
Please, let it be on this planet.
My heart was already beginning to break at the thought of losing her.
10
HAZEL
The light was blindingly bright. Even with my eyes clenched shut, I could see it. Worse still, I could feel its effects.
It made me feel drowsy as if I’d been sitting behind the wheel of a car for hours on end and my mind had been wiped clean. Although I wavered on the spot, I didn’t fall or slump over.
But I acted as if I had.
The moment the light was gone, I eased my eyes open, ready to snap them shut an instant later if I caught even a glimpse of that light again.
But even a glimpse was likely too much.
I opened my eyes and a large purple square filled my vision. The after-effects of the light.
I was somewhere dark and cold. I didn’t recognize it.
I glanced out the corner of my eyes at the other girls. They stood like lobotomy patients, eyes glazed over and drool seeping out the corner of their mouths. Their arms hung by their sides and their necks might have snapped with the lack of movement.
Had they all been made comatose with the light? Or were some of them pretending the way I was?
I should say something. I should get their attention.
Somewhere in the darkness, a door hissed open and slammed shut.
I adopted my friends’ dead gaze and stooped over with my arms by my side.
Two Changelings ambled into view. Ugly, vile creatures.
“Do you think we got her?” one of them said.
“We’d better,” the second one said. “Slak isn’t going to be happy with us if we didn’t.”
“Which one is it? They all look the same.”
“Which one is what?”
