The Last City Read online

  At first only the obvious registered, and I gaped at him - his shirt hung off him in pieces. But as I stared, I realized more was wrong. His skin was scorched red and pink, and parts were hanging from him in seared patches. He leaned against the doorway, blood spilling from his mouth and nose as he struggled to gasp back air.

  “Aleric!” Haize could barely speak his name. The room however, had silenced itself, and her whispered word could clearly be heard. Her faced paled as she stared at him, absorbing his condition, before running to his side. She then helped him onto the nearest table - almost knocking Dax off it to make way for Aleric - and began her healing process.

  Lena gasped, taking two baby steps toward Aleric. Her shocked expression mimicked Haize’s, as she took in his condition. But it didn’t last. The fear that had made an appearance quickly melted into fist-clenching rage.

  “I’m too weak to heal myself,” I heard Aleric whisper.

  “Where are the others?” Haize asked him.

  “They’re fine. With Mason,” he wheezed through the words, barely able to draw breath. And within the moment he was out. But that was for the best.

  The sight of Aleric did not stir my stomach; I’d seen much worse on numerous occasions. His exterior wounds were not deep, but from the sound of him, there was more wrong inside than out. I hoped he would be ok.

  “Where are they?” Lena demanded.

  “You heard him,” Haize responded, without looking up at her.

  “Haize, you know what I mean.”

  “Lena, let Mason handle it.”

  I expected Lena to argue further, but instead she only stared first at Haize and then down at Aleric. Dax began to move toward her, but before he could reach her, she ran from the room without another word. And without looking back at anyone, including him.

  “Where is she going?” he asked Haize.

  Haize sighed as she tried to heal Aleric.

  “Hopefully, to the city. If she tries to leave the environment,” she began, but then stopped, staring down at Aleric and shook her head. “I couldn’t say what will happen. Stop her if you can,” she called, as he raced after Lena.

  “What happened to him?” I asked, motioning toward Aleric.

  “He needs to rest and heal first,” she said. “Whatever happened can wait.”

  Her tone told me the subject was closed, and I didn’t question further. The concern I’d first seen on her face had turned to fear as she stared down at Aleric. And I was sure I could discern a slight tremor in her fingers as they flew across her screens.

  Jordan and I left without another word, but the brief exchange between Haize and Lena had me convinced that more was going on than what was being said. Part of me hoped that Jordan was as much in the dark about it as I was.

  “What is the environment that Haize referred to?” I asked him, as we made our slow way along the corridor, toward the underground cubicles.

  “I couldn’t tell you. I’d heard Haize mention it only once before, a long time ago, before you came here,” he said. “But before you… I questioned nothing. I just accepted their words as meaning something to someone, but I didn’t really care to know what that meaning was, nor even who they were for that matter,” he said, while waving his hand back toward the stadium. “I always assumed they were from Threa, and Mason never said otherwise.”

  “Did you see the fear on Haize’s face?” I asked him.

  “I did,” he said, and stopped walking. “I don’t know what is going on, or why Lena reacted the way she did.” But he stopped speaking and turned me toward him.

  I expected to feel him reach out to me with one of his soul-hugs, but it didn’t come. Instead, he pulled me close, and stared down into my face.

  “Between Aleric’s condition, Lena’s anger and Haize’s reaction to them both,” he began, while raising one hand to my face. “And…”

  I angled my head slightly, to rest my cheek in his palm. And then closed my eyes, relishing his touch, and almost forgot the conversation we were having. But when I no longer heard his voice, I looked back up at him to question.

  “And?” I asked.

  He shook his head with a sigh, and then whispered, “I can’t really say, but… I’ve a feeling Mason knows more than he’s let on.” And he looked at me as though he wanted to wrap me in cotton wool and hide me away. It was then that I felt his warmth surround me, and I felt only safe.

  However, whatever was happening, or was going to happen, I didn’t fear it. Perhaps I should have. But apart from the ward, the only fear I had was of losing him. And I decided I was not going to speculate on either point.

  “Let’s go home,” I whispered back to him. And we made our swift way through the town, and up toward our garden. But with each step came the recollection of recent occurrences in the Arena.

  “What are you thinking?” Jordan asked me, as we approached our garden path.

  I glanced across at him, only to find him peering back at me. Curiosity had replaced the fear in his eyes.

  I hadn’t said a word since we’d left the dome. At first, my every thought was for Aleric, hoping he would heal fast. I had no idea where he’d been, and trying to get information out of Haize was pointless once her tone turned resolute.

  However, for most of the walk back, what had overtaken every other thought, was Jordan - the memory of his strength and the force he’d exerted. And when I faced him, he smiled at my ill-concealed reverence of him. No doubt he also felt it in the warmth of my soul as I gingerly shared it with his.

  “What you did to Dax. That was incredible. You were… amazing. You picked him up with one hand. He’s a big guy. And you slammed him down on that table. You had complete control over your strength and what you were doing,” I could hear myself rambling, but I didn’t care.

  Though, he no doubt did.

  He turned me toward him and captured my mouth with his before I could get another word out.

  My hands slid upward, over his chest, and clutched his shoulders. I then maneuvered my ankles around his calves, and using the tops of my feet as leverage, I pulled myself up. He lifted me the rest of the way, and held me to him.

  As we made our slow way along our garden path his mouth never left mine. But once inside, he pulled his face away to stare across the room.

  “I’m sorry,” Mason stammered. “Didn’t mean to… just… intrude like this.”

  I released my legs from around Jordan’s waist, and slipped down to stand beside him. I then turned toward Mason, ready to demand of him, a damn good reason why he was interrupting my feelings of awe. But he was leaning over our dining table, with both hands planted, while tapping one finger relentlessly against the surface.

  I couldn’t tell if he was excited or scared.

  “It’s the Guardian,” he quickly explained, straightening up.

  “It’s not back,” Jordan demanded. Not a question.

  “No! I’ve only been analyzing it, trying to see where it went wrong.”

  “And,” I asked.

  “It didn’t go wrong. It was doing exactly as it had been programmed to do.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jordan’s disbelief mirrored mine. “You programmed it.”

  “Yes, and its design was to protect the Central Unit, protect the city, protect the planet. And that’s all it was doing.”

  “By ripping people from their worlds? Bringing them here against their will? Killing them, controlling them?” I protested.

  “Essentially, yes.”

  Neither of us said another word. We both knew Mason would not have programmed the Guardian to do what it did. There had to be a reason why he would make such a claim.

  I racked my brain for any possible excuse, for the Guardian to justify itself in doing what it did, and I remembered my outburst in the Colony, months earlier. My words, then, had given Grid reason enough slap his hand over my mouth, silencing my revelation.

  “It was bu
ilding an army.”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “What exactly, were they going to be fighting?” Jordan asked, but I could sense from his tone that he already knew. He was the one who had told me about the protection around the planet. And only then did I realize that this was the memory that I’d struggled with for the past few months. The one that always evaded me. It was the one thing that my subconscious had tried again and again to remind me of - that the fight was not over.

  “The Guardian had predicted that they would come back. We all knew they would,” Mason said, as though reading Jordan’s thoughts. “Whatever it had detected in the Central Unit’s memories, whatever it had picked up from the other colonies, it has been preparing for them.”

  “But the Central Unit has the planet protected,” I complained. “Why the need for the Guardian?”

  “The Central Unit’s protection is stronger with the Guardian. It’s like having a general of war in charge. Its sole purpose was to protect and defend, and that is exactly what it has been doing.”

  Neither Jordan nor Mason said anything for several minutes. They only stared at one another. And I wished in that moment, to have heard Jordan’s thoughts.

  “Can you alter its programming? Change what it does so it doesn’t keep attacking us and others? Recognize us as not the enemy?” Jordan asked.

  “I don’t know. But I’m sure I can add an override, now that I know one is necessary, and I should be able to alter its purpose.”

  “You’re sure? You should…?” I questioned. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They were talking of bringing the thing back. Images and feelings ran through my mind, all of which involved the one person I needed to remain locked up.

  “What if your fail-safes don’t work? What if it brings back the wards, takes back control? Neither I, nor anyone else will be able to do what I did before, it would have us figured out. And what if it brings back…” but I couldn’t finish. I couldn’t say it. It had been months since he’d attacked me. And it had only been moments since the warrior assisted me in the medic room, and again I wished he hadn’t. I could already feel my luck changing.

  “You can’t bring it back,” I urged them. “Mason, you can’t.”

  Lena! I called out in my mind to her. I had no idea if she could hear me, or if she was listening, or if it would even work, but I needed her here for this.

  Mason groaned, I hoped from my inner volume.

  “She can’t hear you. While inside your house, no one outside can. There is a shield around your house specifically programmed for that purpose,” he said, and despite my current dilemma I could clearly see his barely concealed grin. “And she’s already on her way,” he added.

  Jordan pulled me toward the couch and sat beside me. With one arm around my waist, he tried to reassure me that we would be ok.

  “Lydia,” Mason pleaded. “The ward cannot get out. The power to that room is isolated. He is limited to that tube only. I haven’t reinstalled the Guardian and I won’t unless I know it’s safe. And only when it’s necessary.”

  At that point Lena entered the room, and strode straight toward us, eyes aimed at Mason, as though ready to attack him. But she stopped herself before she made contact.

  “Where are they?” she demanded of him.

  “When not in this house, you’ll calm your thoughts,” Mason said in a hushed voice, and I could barely make out his next words, but I was sure he’d said, “They may be listening.”

  Did he mean us? Those of us in the room? Or someone else entirely. I began to get up off the couch to question, but Dax arrived, and stepped to Lena’s side.

  Jordan rose from the couch to stand in front of me, and glared at Dax. Lena placed a hand on Jordan’s chest to stop any forward movement, but Dax didn’t make a move toward either of us.

  After several moments of what I knew was silent communication, Mason returned to the table, and was followed by Jordan and then Lena. Dax took Jordan’s place beside me on the couch.

  I eyed him suspiciously, but he only picked up my hand.

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed, and then continued in his normal deep, commanding voice. “I don’t know why I charged at you. It’s hard to separate the emotions, you know?”

  I nodded, trying to smile at him.

  “It won’t happen again. Something I haven’t quite mastered yet… control,” he chuckled, and glanced at Lena. “But I will. Boss’s orders.”

  “It’s ok,” I responded with a smirk. “You know Jordan will shred you if you fail in your new task.”

  He nodded, and mashed his lips together, as though he was holding back a smirk, or perhaps it was laughter trying to make its way out. A strange way to react, since Jordan was well above his level of training.

  “What’s going on?” he asked me before I could comment.

  “You mean you can’t read minds?”

  But at that, he did laugh. “Not yet, but I aspire to master that as well.”

  I sighed, looking across at the trio now standing around the table.

  “Come on,” I insisted, moving off the couch. “Mason figured out the Guardian’s problem.”

  “And?” he looked over at Lena, worry replacing his smile.

  “There was no problem.”

  11

  Warrior

  The following morning, I could not believe the sight that was dangling mid-air before me.

  “Lena, what… are… you… doing?” I asked her.

  “She needs to be here, and you’re late.”

  We were late. Once everyone had left our cottage, Jordan made every attempt to distract me from the conversation Mason had thrust upon us, by reminding me of why I was in awe of him. And we’d picked up right where we’d left off, before Mason’s intrusion. Although, his appearance, while at first unwelcome, was very much appreciated, for I was rather relieved - albeit belatedly - to learn that our thoughts, all of our thoughts, remained within the walls of our home.

  Before me now however, in the Arena training dome was Rebecca, suited up and swirling through the air, learning how to fly. Hammond paced the length of the room, himself suited up; his hands wringing from the nervous tension that watching his beloved, had wound him into.

  “Ohhh,” she hollered, in a high-pitched voice as she was rolled backward, and then came to a stop.

  “Lena, you need to get her down before she hurts herself,” I told her. “Jordan, do something.”

  “Lydia, she wants to be here,” Lena retorted. “She’s actually not too happy with you for holding out on her.”

  “Rebecca, are you ok?” I called to her, as the suit lowered her feet to the mat.

  “Goodness!” she uttered, then slumped to the floor.

  Hammond charged into the room, and helped her up.

  “Lydia!” she called, as she wobbled on shaky feet, off the mat and toward me. “Why didn’t you tell me they had such things? I’ve been floating through the air all morning,” she huffed as though trying to catch her breath.

  “I’m sorry,” I told her. “But you do know you’ll be expected to fight,” I added, and held up my fists in imitation.

  “Yes, yes…” she began, and shooed my hands away.

  “No,” Hammond breathed. “You won’t be fighting.” He looked at me pleading, and I could tell he shared my thoughts about Rebecca being in the dome.

  “It’s necessary,” she argued. “You know this. Lena told me all about that Guardian and its soldiers, and I for one, refuse to be handled in such a manner.”

  I realized from her words that neither he nor Lena had yet informed her that she’d already been ‘handled’ by them.

  “Lydia,” she whispered, and bent her head toward mine in her conspiratorial way. “You know what I discovered?”

  “What?” I whispered back.

  “It’s best not to think about it. Any of it. I don’t need to figure it out. I don’t need to understand,” she w
hispered, and nodded as she peered into my eyes. “All of this. You know?” she waved her hands to indicate everything around us. She swallowed hard, and then repeated. “It’s best not to think about it. I’m alive, I have Hammond, and nothing else really matters.”

  I nodded and smiled, relieved at least, to hear she’d found a way to accept the world she lived in. That she was no longer suffering over where and when she was. Relieved at least, to hear she was settling into her real life here on Threa.

  She picked up my hand and held it between both of hers and said, “Don’t think about it, and we’ll be just fine.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered to her. “That is helpful. I shall try.”

  “But we must defend ourselves from the enemy,” she said, pulling away from me, to proclaim to the room in general.

  “Becca, dearest,” Hammond stammered. “You don’t need to learn to fight with your hands, your skills with the sword are masterful enough. And I would protect you with my life. None shall touch you.”

  “And what if they touch you? Who shall come to your aid? And who shall protect me then?”

  As I listened to their argument I glared at Lena, but she only cocked an eyebrow at me, as I challenged her choice to bring Rebecca into training.

  Jordan pulled me away before I challenged her a little too much. And once at the other side of the room, he set the simulation to my level.

  “I agree with Lena on this one. I’m sorry, but she needs at least the basic skills.”

  I knew he was right. Deep down inside I did agree, I just couldn’t admit to it. It was painful thinking about her even needing to learn to defend herself.

  “Activate,” I whispered, and focused upon the monster of a man before me.

  It was the first time the simulation had held my attention from start to finish, with Jordan standing nearby. There was not a single moment of distraction, nor even a thought that strayed in his direction. And I kicked, punched and wrestled with the simulation, with barely a thought for the pain it lavished upon me. However, after what seemed like only moments, I found myself holding the simulation down with my arms locked around his throat, choking him.