Part 19 (1/2)

”Robard,” Pyra whispered. ”Skull Team... Someone answer!” Nothing.

Ahead it was brighter, and we reached an abrupt end to the trees. In front of us was the high fence, the dry moat, and then the dome wall. We turned left and followed the fence. At the bottom of a hill, we reached a gate. It hung open, a blackened hole where its lock had been. Beyond the gate, a narrow metal bridge with wire railings crossed the moat. At the other end, a thick hatch-like door hung ajar, its handle similarly blown out. Beyond that door, brilliant sunlight baked barren rock.

We stopped at the broken gate.

”Robard, anyone, come in,” Pyra repeated. When no one replied again, she glanced wildly in all directions.

”Now what?” said Barnes.

”Not sure,” said Pyra, her voice tense. ”We were supposed to meet back here.”

”We should just get out,” said Tiernan. ”The other teams may have been compromised. If we've got the boy, we don't need the skull anyway.”

”Yes, we do!” Pyra snapped. ”He'll be useless without its information.”

”But there's the other one, down south. And the girl.”

”That's not how it works!” said Pyra. ”At least, not according to Dr. Keller's studies.” She tried the phone again. ”Robard, do you copy?”

As she listened to the static, I wondered, What was this? They were talking about a skull, a temple, and a girl. The skull from my vision? And the girl they mentioned, was that Lilly? Were they after her, too? Either way, what it definitely meant was that these Nomads were related to what was happening to me, and to that vision, even the siren. Somehow, all of it was connected.

”Okay, you're right,” said Pyra. ”We'll make for the rendezvous and hope for the best.”

The men angled me through the fence and out onto the narrow bridge. Pyra followed behind us. Tiernan let go of me and started toward the door, gun raised. Barnes guided me from behind. I glanced over the meager wire railing at the ten-meter drop to the concrete floor of the moat.

Then, I looked ahead at the approaching brightness of the outside world. I was being taken from EdenWest. And I couldn't move to do anything about it.

”Robard, this is Pyra, we are exiti-Gluh!”

The bridge shuddered, the wires to my side springing like they'd been plucked.

”Pyra!” Barnes shouted. He let go of me, his shoulder brus.h.i.+ng my back as he spun around.

There was a hissing of air.

”Agh!”

I was turning around, trying to control my balance, when Barnes jerked backward into me. In the blurry sweep of my vision I saw that Pyra had vanished from the bridge. And something was wrong with the back of Barnes's head. The shape wasn't right.

Something hot on my face.

Hands grabbed me by the armpits, dragging me back toward the door. ”Come on, kid!” Tiernan shouted.

I watched Barnes slump to the ground, saw the movement back in the trees. Black figures emerging from the shadows, helmets on, amber visors down, rifles raised.

”Put the boy down!” one of the soldiers shouted.

Something cold pressed against my neck. A knife. The dream, on the pyramid... no, this was now. ”Don't come any closer or he dies!” said Tiernan. I saw our shadows cast in front of us by the daylight. We were almost to the door.

A pop. Another hissing of air. The feel of more hot liquid, this time spraying onto the back of my neck.

I was tossed forward. The knife clattered off the side of the bridge. I couldn't stop myself from careening over face-first. I got my arms out, but they didn't do much good. My forehead slammed against metal.

Tiernan fell on top of me. Drops of warm fluid falling onto my cheek. Streaming to my nose and falling free. I watched Tiernan's blood as it plinked on the grated metal floor of the bridge. Some drops slipped through and fell all the way to the concrete below, to where Pyra's body lay in a twisted S S shape, a pool of blood spreading from her head. shape, a pool of blood spreading from her head.

Footsteps banged on the bridge. The body was pushed off me. Gloved hands under my armpits. They pulled me up.

”I have him,” the officer said. He set me on my feet. ”Can you walk?”

I glanced at his amber visor, reflecting the bright real sun and the open door behind me, and tried to answer, but no words actually came out.

”Okay, just hang on to me.” He slung my arm over his shoulder and led me back toward the gate. We stepped over Barnes, over his contorted face and misshaped head, some important piece of it missing now. I saw red among the hair, insides now exposed.

It all pa.s.sed over me. Images. Things. None of this was real. Couldn't be.

Back through the gate, and there were many officers now. They sat me against a tree. I watched them use ropes to get into the moat. I looked down and saw blood splattered on my s.h.i.+rt, my arms and legs. Other people's blood.

”Owen!” I looked up to see Dr. Maria running over. She dropped to one knee in front of me. ”You're okay,” she said. ”Don't worry.” She yanked the patch from my neck.

”Better than them,” I whispered.

Dr. Maria glanced toward the bridge. An officer was climbing up out of the moat, Pyra over his shoulder. He carried her off the bridge and dumped the body to the pine-needle ground with a hollow thump.

When Dr. Maria looked back, there were wet edges beneath her eyes. She sniffed, like the sight of the bodies had gotten to her. Then she saw me noticing. ”Sorry,” she said, wiping at the tears.

”It's okay,” I said.

Dr. Maria opened her black backpack and pulled out a red medical kit. She checked my eyes with a penlight. Took my wrist and checked my pulse. ”Anything hurt besides this?” She touched my swollen cheek lightly.

”Nah,” I said.

She pulled an ice pack from her backpack, shook it, and put it in my hand. I noticed that her hand was shuddering. ”That's for your cheek,” she said. ”The neuro dampener should wear off in a few minutes. You'll get your feeling back.”

”Okay.” I could already feel p.r.i.c.kling in my toes and fingers.

She rummaged in the kit. ”Just one more thing...” She pulled out that square box with the gla.s.s dot. She held it toward my forehead. The light blinked green again. ”Good.”

”What's that mean?” I asked.

”It's-”

”Owen.” Paul was striding toward us. Beside him was Cartier, the head of security. Paul introduced him, then glanced over his shoulder. ”This is very unfortunate,” he said, as if what had happened here was just a bad-tasting meal rather than the deaths of three people. ”Owen, listen: we're going to need to know everything they may have said to you. I'm sure most of it was lies-the Nomads are experts at misinformation-but still... it might give us a clue as to what they're up to.”

I almost laughed at this. Lies... As if he was one to talk.

Dr. Maria sniffed. I saw her scowling as she busied herself with her pack, like she felt the same way.