The Fate of Ten

As Marina takes over the telekinesis, I focus on the clouds rolling in on the evening sky. I don’t want to create a full-fledged storm—not with the Anubis and Setrákus Ra so close. Luckily, I don’t need one. There’s a dark cloud up there with just enough charge to generate a small lightning bolt. I send this arcing down into Phiri Dun-Ra, zapping her good. I guess there’s a chance this could kill her, but I don’t really have time to worry about that. The Mog spasms as the electricity shoots through her, then stops struggling against Marina’s telekinesis. She doesn’t disintegrate, so I guess she’s still alive.

When Marina’s dragged Phiri Dun-Ra over to the tree line, Adam grabs her under the arms and pulls her the rest of the way. He shoves her behind the log we’re hiding behind and begins retying her wrists and ankles.

“So, you guys are taking prisoners now?” Mark asks.

“She might come in handy,” I reply, shrugging.

“We can’t keep dragging her around,” Adam says as he finishes tightening the knots.

“We’ll leave her here. She mentioned loving the jungle, right?” I say, with a smile on my face. We’ve got bigger things to worry about than the fate of Phiri Dun-Ra.

“Let’s not jinx our chance at survival by making lots of plans,” Mark says.

Before anyone can reply, the jungle around us gets strangely quiet. I’d gotten so used to the incessant squawking of tropical birds that it’s absolutely jarring when it’s gone. Even the bug noises taper off. Across the clearing that the Mogs made around the Sanctuary, to the north, a whole flock of birds flies out from the trees and scatters.

The Anubis is here.

I hold out my hands and arms. “Grab on,” I tell everyone. “I’ll keep us all invisible until we’re ready to attack.”

Marina takes one of my hands and Sarah takes the other. Mark, detonator at the ready, gets hold of my shoulder. Adam is last. He gives me a nod, probably remembering when I told him how strange it was to hold hands with a Mogadorian. Until this is over, the two of us will be attached at the hip. I nod back, over it, and he squeezes in next to Marina, his hand on my upper arm. Only Bernie Kosar doesn’t get close to me. Instead, our Chimæra transforms into a toucan and flies into a nearby tree.

It’s sort of funny, the five of us crowded together like this. It almost looks like we’re posing for a picture.

I turn us invisible just as the Anubis glides into view. The warship is bigger than I even imagined. The whole ship is made from overlapping panels of a metallic gray alloy that almost look like scales. It’s shaped like one of those Egyptian bugs—a scarab—except with a whole ton of guns, the massive cannon jutting off the front of its hull particularly catching my eye.

“God,” Sarah whispers.

“Holy shit,” Mark says, a little louder. His hand tightens on my shoulder. As the Anubis lumbers closer, the entire clearing and the Sanctuary itself are stuck in its shadow.

“Easy now,” I say, trying to keep from freaking out myself. “Stay still and stay close. They can’t see us.”

The enormous ship comes to a stop so that it’s hovering above the Mog encampment. Even considering the large swath of jungle the Mogs cleared, the warship is so big that it won’t have room to land.

Adam must realize that the Anubis hovering above the battlefield kind of screws up our plans. “We’re going to need to find a way up there.”

“If he lands any ground troops, we can pick them off and fly their own Skimmers back up there,” I reply. It’s exactly the tactic John and the absent U.S. military want to employ against the Mog warships, so who better than us to be the guinea pigs.

“What’s he doing?” Sarah wonders. “What are they waiting for?”

Ella stopped telepathically broadcasting to us a few minutes ago, and now I’m wondering if it’s just my imagination that I can still feel her presence lingering in the back of my mind. If she’s still there, though, if she can hear me, we could definitely use the help.

“Ella?” I ask, feeling stupid saying her name out loud like this. “Can you hear me? What’s going on up there?”

There’s no response.

“Marina? Sarah? Is she . . . ?”

“Nothing, Six,” Sarah answers, one disembodied voice talking about another.

“I think she’s gone,” Marina adds.

But then it happens. A whisper in the back of my mind. Ella’s voice, forlorn and hopeless.

You should’ve run.

In the air above us, a humming sound begins to emanate from the Anubis. It’s noticeable because of how amazingly silent the warship is otherwise. It starts low but builds up quickly. Pretty soon, my teeth are vibrating because of it. I scan the underbelly of the warship, expecting to see Setrákus Ra’s soldiers descending in Skimmers, but the skies are clear.

“What the hell is that?” I ask, hoping Adam will answer.

“It’s . . . it’s powering up,” Adam replies. His voice is shaky and I feel his hand get looser on my arm, like he’s stunned and forgetting that he needs to hold on to me to remain invisible.

“Powering up what?” I ask.

“The main weapon,” he answers. “The cannon.”

I can see it. The dark hollow of the cannon’s barrel begins to glow as energy coalesces there. The humming gets louder as the cannon fills with pure energy, like a Mogadorian blaster overcharging. In seconds, the Sanctuary and the jungle around it are all bathed in the azure light. I want to shield my eyes, but Marina and Sarah are gripping my hands tight.