The Surface Trials, page 11
She could see the bright circle that was the outside world. Deneb. Open air. But somewhere in here was Rox.
She searched the murk, hoping to see the light from Rox’s uniform cam, and spotted the barest hint of a glimmer. Was that the reflective straps on the backpack?
Only one way to find out. She extricated herself from Urs’s grip. ‘You stay here, I’m going to check something.’
‘No way, do not leave me alone in here.’
‘Fine, come with me then.’
Ammy grabbed Urs’s hand and led her towards the tiny reflection. She bit her lip as her feet snagged on legs and webs and goodness knew what else. But she kept going, imagining this was the dim and dank tunnel under her school that led to the power control override that was always skipping off by mistake. Her breathing calmed. Slowly the glimmer got closer. Until finally it was in front of them.
‘The backpack?’ asked Urs.
‘Only one way to find out.’ Ammy reached out a hand. And gurgled on a scream. She leaped backwards, and Urs grabbed her. They staggered a few steps into the darkness before Urs almost fell over a hairy leg and they had to stop.
‘Not the backpack?’ Urs whispered.
Ammy almost choked on a whimper that she refused to let out. ‘I think it was an eye?’
‘Okay. That’s cool.’ Urs breathed in and out. In and out again. ‘Yeah, no. It’s not actually. Too much information again, just so you know.’
Ammy puffed a delirious laugh. She looked around, but they’d moved away from the tunnel and she couldn’t see the light from outside anymore. Couldn’t see anything but the miniscule green glow from Urs’s suitcam, reminding her of the worlds that were probably watching.
She wasn’t sure which direction was out. Which was probably something else Urs wouldn’t want to hear.
Ammy wished she wasn’t aware of it either. ‘We’re going to be fine.’
And then the far-off sound of someone whistling the Starquest anthem came to them.
Ammy froze. The viperwasp must be coming back.
30
COMMUNICATION IS KEY
Urs cursed as the whistling continued. ‘That is absolutely not what a shimmerbird sounds like.’
‘I don’t think that’s our biggest problem right now,’ whispered Ammy.
A scraping sound echoed through the cavern. The viperwasp. Coming down the tunnel.
‘Going to try and tell me we’re fine again?’ asked Urs.
‘Did it help the other times?’
‘Not really.’
‘Yeah, me neither. This is getting serious, Urs.’
‘Think the landers can help us all the way under here?’
Ammy swallowed. What were the assessors thinking, leaving them in here with this thing? Were they sitting up there laughing? The tiny glow of Urs’s suitcam seemed to mock her.
She couldn’t see. But she could hear the viperwasp coming. She could sense it as well.
A thought came to her, terrifying in its desperation. The details of the Mindbreaker War were heavily censored on Proxima, but from a few comments dropped her way since she’d been off-planet, Ammy gathered it had involved a lot of death. Could she kill the viperwasp with her mind?
She’d told herself she wouldn’t use those powers again, but this was a pretty extreme situation. The viperwasp could paralyse them too. Then the medivacs would come and she’d be out of the Trials and sent home to be Tested and vanish like Citrine. No matter what Deneb thought, the Testing found Mindbreakers at least once a year and every one of them disappeared.
This was beyond desperate.
She focused on what her brain was feeling. The ongoing alarm she’d been trying to ignore blared even louder – go away go away go away – and Urs’s fear crept inside her. Ammy shook as she tried to reach out with her mind, like she had when she’d collapsed. But her brain wasn’t going anywhere. She could feel the wasp, but not reach it. Just like she could feel Urs and—
She gasped, and the viperwasp paused. Ammy’s blood seemed to freeze. Had it heard her?
Could it see in the dark? Did it have heat-sensors? Mindpowers like hers? Ones it actually knew how to use?
Now was not a good time for these thoughts. She had to focus. Because Ammy had realised something. She could feel Rox with her mind. And he wasn’t far away, to their left. Away from the wasp. Which was good. But that meant away from the exit tunnel as well. Not so fabulous.
Ammy kept hold of Urs’s hand and pulled her towards where she knew Rox was. She was trying to walk quietly, but every slight sound was echoing around the chamber. The small movements of the viperwasp sounded like drumbeats. It had moved closer, as if it was stalking them. Finally, her boot touched something squishy that rustled. Like a backpack.
She squatted, hands frantic on the opening, not caring about the noise now. Just wanting some light.
The viperwasp was scrabbling faster and closer and Urs was moaning and where the heck was the lightbox?
Finally her fingers touched a cool cube. She tore it out of the bag, palming the switch as she lifted it and holding it up to where she thought the wasp was.
She screamed.
Urs screamed.
The viperwasp screamed, cowering away from the sudden light.
It was barely a body length away.
Far-off noises echoed from outside. Deneb must’ve heard them. It was past time to be gone. Ammy aimed the light at the wasp’s eyes – all six of them – and tried to grab Rox with her other hand.
‘Oh, get out of the way,’ said Urs, striding forward and picking up Rox like he was a paper doll, throwing him over her shoulder.
The two of them stood side by side, while the wasp hissed at the light.
‘What now?’ said Urs.
‘It’ll get used to the light soon, surely?’
‘Hey, with six eyes you’d think one’ll have to sometime.’
Ammy grimaced. ‘So … we run?’
The wasp made a leap at them.
‘RUN!’ yelled Urs.
Ammy turned and followed Urs. She had to hold the lightbox in front of her, which meant it wasn’t shining directly on the wasp. In seconds its eyes would recover and it would be after them. Urs was ricocheting off giant body after giant body, all lying there, still and dusty, legs curled under them, or splayed out across the gaps. Empty eyes staring.
In the dark it had been horrifying.
In the light it was worse.
Ammy was sobbing. Or was that Urs? Probably both.
‘Where’s the way out?’ screamed Urs.
‘Here!’ Deneb’s voice echoed across the mummified bodies, and relief flooded Ammy. Urs turned towards him.
They stumbled over legs and dead husks and then finally the lightbox picked him up.
‘Run!’ yelled Urs again.
They did. Back up the tunnel. It hadn’t seemed so long going down. Ammy could sense the viperwasp behind her, closer and closer. There was a stitch in her side. Her feet were catching on the webs on the floor. She wasn’t going to get out in time.
Suddenly the closeness of the tunnel was gone. Ammy burst out into the fresh air of the mountain slope, the first stars twinkling. She hit something and sprawled to the ground, rolling down the hill. Before she’d even stopped moving she spun to point the lightbox behind her.
There was no sign of the viperwasp. Deneb stood at the entry, a branch of spiky blue shrub in his hands.
‘Where is it?’ Ammy cried. Darkness was looming all around the lightbox, the last traces of sunset slipping away from the western horizon.
‘It went back in when I whacked it.’ Deneb’s voice oozed borderline panic.
Urs groaned from somewhere to the side of Ammy, and Rox rolled limply into the light. Urs crawled after him, then right up to Ammy.
‘Never. Ever. Ever. Again. Just so we’re clear.’
Ammy put her arms around her. ‘You were brilliant.’
‘You were brilliant. I was terrified. How were you so calm?’
‘I don’t think I was. But you’d be surprised how many stinky dark tunnels there are under our domes.’
Urs shuddered. ‘That was awful.’ Then she pulled back. ‘And all because of this guy.’
She reached over to where Rox lay, still breathing but otherwise completely absent. Urs grabbed him, manhandling his floppy arms one by one until the backpack was off, and then took the torch from his pocket.
She crawled away from him, dragging the backpack with her. Then she stood up and looked to the sky. ‘You see him? You can take him now! He’s yours!’
Silence.
Not a buzz of a lander to be heard.
31
YOU WILL BE TESTED IN NOVEL WAYS TO ENSURE YOUR SUITABILITY FOR STARQUEST
‘Take him!’ Urs yelled up to the stars, pointing at Rox’s paralysed form. Then she shook her head. ‘I don’t know what game they’re playing.’
Deneb gagged. ‘I don’t know what that thing is on his neck.’
Urs shuddered again, shuffling back so fast she fell.
‘What?’ Ammy swung to look straight at Rox. ‘Oh, no way. Tell me that’s not what I think it is.’
‘Just so we’re clear, what do you think it is?’ asked Urs.
‘A viperwasp egg?’ Ammy whispered. She looked at Deneb. ‘He’s been stung, yes? Paralysed? Deposited in the nest? And then the egg hatches out and … eats him alive?’
Deneb’s face was a mask of horror. ‘When I told that story I wasn’t really intending it to come true.’
‘This might be why, though, yeah?’ said Urs.
‘Why what?’ said Deneb.
‘Why they won’t take him. Surely they can’t bring something like that onto the mainship?’
It made excellent sense. Ammy nodded. ‘So we take it off him.’
‘Bags not me,’ said Urs quickly.
‘We put it back in the nest,’ Ammy continued. She looked at the tunnel mouth. And gasped.
‘What— oh no,’ Deneb said, spinning to look.
Urs was silently screaming.
Because the viperwasp was back, mincing at the edges of the lightbox’s reach. And it was angry. Ammy didn’t need unnatural powers to know that; she could see it in the way its wings were rustling, its eyes glinting.
Deneb was slowly bending to pick up the branch he’d dropped. Ammy was figuring they could run, but not while carrying Rox. Someone would fall behind. Someone would get taken.
The viperwasp keened, stepping out of the tunnel and then back in, yowling again. Ammy could feel its anger. But she could also feel fear. Sorrow.
Deneb brandished the branch with a cry, heedless of how many spikes must be digging into his already damaged hands, shoving it forward. ‘Go back! Back!’
The viperwasp hissed again, retreating another step.
‘Wait, Deneb!’ said Ammy. ‘I think it just wants its egg.’
He flashed a look at her, then back to the bristling wasp. ‘Are you serious? Have you seen this thing? Do you remember how it chased us out of that horror chamber of doom?’
‘Just … let me try this.’
Ammy handed the lightbox to Urs and knelt down next to Rox. She reached towards the pale pink ovoid thing pulsing on his neck. Her stomach roiled. The viperwasp yowled.
‘Whatever you’re doing, it’s not exactly working,’ said Deneb.
Ammy ignored him. She shot a look at the viperwasp. ‘I’m just getting your baby for you,’ she said. ‘Okay? Then we’ll be gone.’
‘You’re talking to it, Ammy. Why are you talking to it?’ Deneb’s voice was shaky.
Ammy put her hands on either side of the egg. It was cool, slightly sticky, solid yet squishy. She needed a lot of strength to pull it off Rox’s neck, and she was sure more than a few layers of his skin came with it. The sound of retching came from behind her along with a wave of horror, and the light wobbled wildly.
The viperwasp buzzed its wings and stomped its legs, yowling again. Ammy stood, holding the egg carefully. It was heavier than she’d expected. She stepped towards the tunnel, around Deneb, and then placed the egg on the ground. The wasp hissed. Ammy stepped back once. Twice. Felt Deneb’s hand on her shoulder, as he began drawing away too.
One more step, and the viperwasp pounced. Deneb yelled, whipping the branch around. Ammy was too scared to scream. She’d messed up.
Or … not?
The wasp stopped at the egg, bundling it up in several of its legs, and then turned and hurtled back into the tunnel.
Deneb dropped the branch with a thunk, spun and hugged Ammy, sagging against her so she almost wilted to the ground. Relief flooded her. Hers. His. Urs’s. Probably the viperwasp’s too. She put her arms around Deneb and returned the hug, and it felt … good.
But the alarm was still pulsing, and Ammy remembered what she was, and what it meant that she could feel these things that she shouldn’t be able to, and she pulled away. She tried to ignore the surprised shaft of hurt that came from him. If he knew what she was becoming – what she’d already become – he’d be glad she held herself distant.
She cleared her throat. ‘Okay, well, that was a nice surprise, but I think we still need to get as far away from this place as we can. Quickly.’
Urs was wiping her face, pale and sweaty. ‘I am all for leaving here and never coming back.’
Deneb nodded, looking away. ‘Let’s go. The red pass, right?’
Ammy checked they had everything; there was nothing more to do. Except—
‘We should wait and make sure they take Rox,’ she said.
Urs groaned. ‘This guy seriously owes us.’
The three of them stepped away from Rox’s still form, keeping an eye on the tunnel and an ear on the sky. But no lander buzzed.
‘Gah!’ growled Urs. ‘Seriously, what is it with him?’
Ammy gasped. ‘He really must be him! He’s got to be! Rian Amalthea. He was super coy when we talked about the idea. And he’s been so selfish and oily. It all fits! The assessors wouldn’t want to eliminate him.’
Deneb inhaled sharply. A wave of raw emotion whacked into Ammy. Urs almost dropped the lightbox.
‘Um, Ammy, maybe remember they’re monitoring?’ she whispered.
Ammy’s heart stopped. She waited for the sound of a different sort of lander, come to zip her away. She was tired, she was scared, and she’d faced too much tonight. That was the only reason she could come up with for saying something so stupid out loud.
What was she thinking, dissing the heir to Amalthea? Whose daddy paid all the assessors and the Trials coordinator, and owned the mainship and Starquest and everything? Whose mother owned the miserable planet Ammy called home and the horrid domes that hadn’t even stopped the radiation from corrupting Ammy’s brain?
The buzzing began from far away, and Ammy’s knees wobbled. It was getting closer, that was certain.
She was done for.
32
DESPITE THE ACADEMY’S BEST EFFORTS, ACCIDENTS DO OCCUR DURING TRIALS
Ammy listened as the lander’s buzz grew louder, and fisted her hands to stop them shaking. This was it, then. She was going home. Back to Proxima. To the Testing. She was going to end up like Citrine. However it was that Citrine had ended up. Maybe that was for the best.
The lander drew even nearer.
And then it … screeched?
Ammy whipped her head around, searching the skies. There! Screechers. Like from last night. But this time? Ammy was ecstatic to see them.
Because they were not a lander.
Somehow, she’d survived that comment. She didn’t want to think about what must be happening elsewhere in the Trials to divert the assessors’ attention just then. Or maybe she had enough popular votes to make them overlook what she’d said? Was that possible?
‘Well, that was exciting, Ammy,’ said Deneb into the loaded stillness. ‘Are you Rian Amalthea, by chance, that you’re still here?’
Urs whooshed out a breath. ‘Don’t do that again. Sheesh. Let’s get out of here, this place is bad in all the ways.’
Ammy couldn’t say a thing in response.
‘Soooo, about Rox?’ said Deneb.
Urs muttered a swear word under her breath. ‘Well, we can’t leave their dead heir behind. I’ll carry him for the first bit, but they’d better pick him up soon.’
‘He’s not dead,’ said Deneb. ‘And probably not the heir either, you know.’
Ammy coughed. ‘Yeah, stupid theory of mine. Ignore anything I say for the rest of the night.’
Urs grinned at her, and hoisted Rox onto her shoulders. ‘It’s my theory too. Let’s do this, then.’
Ammy managed a smile back, and the three of them – well, four counting Rox – restarted the climb up to the pass.
It took half an hour before Deneb pulled up alongside her. ‘Glad you’re still with us, Ammy.’
‘So am I,’ she said. ‘So am I.’
33
SUCCESSFUL GROUP WORK RELIES ON OPEN AND HONEST COMMUNICATION
As the sky lightened the next morning, Ammy’s impatient eyes tried to pierce the gloom. Today was everything.
Find the spot that corresponded to the bee on the map.
Get there before sundown.
Don’t get eliminated on the way.
They were camped on the northern side of the red pass, out of the howling winds that had whipped through when they’d reached it late last night. Or more like early morning. It’d been late enough that the mainship hadn’t been shining starlike with reflected sunlight.
Now the day was finally about to reveal the new land stretching out before them.
She’d spent most of the previous night in the worst of brain spaces. Reality sucked. She was, undeniably, a Mindbreaker. The universe’s most despised, most dangerous mutation.
Nothing else could explain how she was feeling these things. No amount of hating what she was would make her normal again. One round of Testing and they’d all know.
And always, at the back of her mind, that chant: Go away go away go away.
