The Fate of Ten

Adam sighs, pointing to the sections of the jungle where we’ve hidden Mog artillery. “You’re really stuck on the hole aspect of the plan. I told you, we’ve got guns, bombs—”

“But for Setrákus Ra, you’ve got a hole.”

“I realize it’s low-tech, but our options are seriously limited,” Adam replies. “And we aren’t trying to kill him. That’s not even a possibility considering any damage we do to him will be reflected onto Ella. We just want to slow him down and buy ourselves some time.”

“Time to do what?” Mark asks.

Adam glances at me. “To rescue Ella, steal the Anubis out from under Setrákus Ra’s nose or both.”

“Why don’t we just bail?” Mark asks, thumbing towards the newly arrived Loric ship. “I get that all these booby traps might’ve been a good idea when you were, like, stranded. But we can leave now.”

“That’s not an option,” Marina replies. “The Sanctuary must be defended at all costs.”

“At all costs?” Mark repeats, glancing back to the ship, then over to the temple. “What the hell is so special about this place?”

I notice that Lexa’s been awfully quiet during this discussion. Her eyes are locked on the Sanctuary, her face blank, sort of like how Marina looks when she goes into one of her reverent trances. Lexa must sense me watching her, because she abruptly shakes her head and meets my gaze.

“This place . . .” She searches for the right words. “There’s something special about it.”

“It’s a Loric place,” Marina replies. “The Loric place now, actually. The source of our Legacies resides inside.”

“We just sealed the entrance or I’d give you the tour,” I put in. “Could’ve introduced you to the creature living in there. Pretty nice for an Entity made out of pure Loric energy.”

Lexa flashes me a quick smirk before replying. “I can feel it . . . whatever’s in there. I can feel it in my bones. I understand why you’d want to protect this place.”

“Thank you,” Marina replies.

“That said . . .” And now Lexa glances in my direction. “Keep in mind that my ship—our ship—is ready. If you need it. It has outrun their warships before.”

I nod subtly and exchange a quick look with Adam. Marina might not want to admit we need one, but we’ve got an exit strategy all the same, and it’s now a lot better than running into the jungle.

“Man, so whatever’s inside there, it’s like in charge of the Legacies?” Mark asks, looking at the Sanctuary with his hands on his hips.

“We think so,” I reply.

“So, that’s what decided that nerdy Sam Goode should get superpowers and that I . . .” Mark trails off, grimacing. “Shit. I should’ve been nicer in high school.”

I try not to laugh. John must have filled Sarah and Mark in on humans getting Legacies thanks to our messing around in the Sanctuary. I don’t know how the Entity decided who would get Legacies, but I wouldn’t really expect a guy like Mark to make the cut, even if he’s been risking his ass for us over the last couple of months. Sarah, on the other hand . . .

“What about you?” I say, facing her.

Sarah shrugs and looks down at her hands, like she’s expecting rays of light to shoot out of them at any moment.

“Nothing yet,” she says, frowning. “Still just a regular old human.”

Sarah tries to play this off, but I can tell it’s bothering her. After all she’s done for us, for John in particular, it does strike me as a major oversight on the Entity’s part to pass her over when choosing which humans receive Legacies.

“The way John told it, Sam only discovered he had Legacies when a piken was bearing down on them,” I say. “Maybe you just haven’t been in a situation where they’ve developed.”

“Yes,” Marina says, jumping in. “Speaking from experience, Legacies have a habit of manifesting when you really need them.”

“Oh, great,” Mark says. “So, if we hang around here to face certain death, maybe there’s a chance I’ll at least die with superpowers.”

“Yep. Maybe,” I reply to him.

“Or maybe the Entity didn’t choose anyone,” Adam says. “Maybe it’s all just random.”

“Says the Mogadorian with Legacies,” replies Mark.

“Whatever, it’s okay,” Sarah says, clearly trying to change the subject. “I’m not counting on it happening. So, whatever. That doesn’t mean we can’t help in other ways. I just got off the phone with John before we landed.”

“Is he on his way?” I ask. “He’s supposed to be bringing the big guns with him when he comes down here.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Sarah replies, her face creased by a frown that I know means bad news is coming. “The government isn’t exactly cooperating. Like, they want to fight, but they don’t want to lose.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“They’re being little bitches,” Mark explains helpfully.

“They don’t want to throw themselves into a conflict against Setrákus Ra unless they know they can win. So, they’ll support us, but they won’t fight him directly. Not yet, anyway.”

“Pathetic,” I say.