A-19

Chapter Twenty

  "Pilot, get us back home as fast and unseen as you can," Reya tells the young man seated in the cockpit. He gives her a thumbs up and jams his finger on a button on the console. I feel the ship rumble beneath my feet.

  Delirious, in pain, and confused, I gape at the ship's smooth white walls. "Whoa, is this a Capsule 11?"

 The pilot turns around and nods at me with a grin.

 "How did you get the same model as the supernatural ship?"

  "I stole it," Reya tells me in the same tone she said "I killed him," in. 

  "Okay, I'm getting a little nervous about your criminal record."

  "Shouldn't you be asking the useful questions?" Reya snaps, but I can almost feel her obvious pride.

  "Right, right." I plop down in one of the other seats in the cockpit, rubbing my shoulder. I can feel the aircraft taking off, my stomach giving lurches every time the pilot turns it. Reya sits down beside me, always looking at the mirror displaying what's behind us. It's obvious that she's expecting and ambush. To be honest, I am too.

  "So tell me the whole story. Who are you and how are you alive?" I ask, stretching out and settling comfortably so the seat put pressure on my still bleeding arm. Yikes, that stain is going to be hard to get out.

  Reya takes a deep breath. She turns to face me. "My name is Reya Trenski. I am currently one of the leaders of a movement to take down the supernaturals."

  "You're crazy," I say. "This is crazy. The supernaturals will crush you."

  "Not necessarily," Reya argues, sounding a little defensive. "If all of us work together, we can take them down."

  "Who's the 'all of us'?" I ask. "As in, more than you and me?"

  Reya sighs. "And now I get to the part where I explain how I'm not dead." She plays with her braid. "Okay, so, my mom was the head scientist at an illustrious astronomy department in Africa. She was smart enough to know that the supernaturals would eventually find us. So she hid everything and built herself and underground safe house, waiting for them to come. She, most of her worker basis, and I were tucked away underground when the supernaturals came. They didn't take us. They... they took my dad though."

  "Oh." My face softens. She's like me. She's lost loved ones to the supernaturals too. "I am so sorry. My dad was killed in the supernatural experiments too."

  "My dad wasn't." Reya wipes at her eyes with her wrists. "He survived. Until the Maze. They killed him."

  Realization suddenly dawns. "Wait, was your dad Gideon?" Now that I think about it, she does resemble him a bit. I would've been a lot more sympathetic towards him if I'd know he had a family.

   I don't know what to say. There's a pause of solemn silence for a while, but Reya finally speaks.

  "Anyway," she says. "We have to destroy the Maze. It's the cause of all of this loss."

  "I've lost someone very close to me in that death trap," I say, wanting to cry. Heath's grinning face pops into my brain.

  "That's why it has to go down," Reya agrees. "Are you gonna help me?"

  "Duh," I say. "But how? We can't just go back. A-19 is going to be on high lockdown now that we've escaped." A small glimmer of hope sparks into existence, maybe they've temporarily stopped the Maze now that they realize it's compromised.

  "We're going to figure that out," Reya explains. "We have another very promising young man in our ranks that will be very helpful to our cause. Almost as helpful as you will be."

  I shiver. Do I really want to go through with this?

  Duh.

  "Where is your headquarters?" I ask, glancing up at the glass in front of us. We're traveling through space, stars glowing like ornaments on a dark Christmas tree. This was sort of incredible, considering I had always wanted to go to space when I was little.

  But not in these circumstances.

  "Our base is located securely on a planet called Circe, named after the Ancient Greek sorceress," Reya says, tapping her fingers on the armrest of her seat. "We have an army of about forty contributors."

  My jaw drops. "Forty? The supernatural army consists of hundreds!" I grab my head and lean over, groaning. "That's it. We're going to die. We're no match for them."

  "Not with that attitude we aren't!" Reya exclaims, her face taking on a determined expression. "Trust me, Marina , with your help, we're going to succeed and save your family."

  My family.

  Mother's frantic face pops into my mind. I imagine it stained with blood and crying out with fear. No. I can't let what happened to Heath happen to her.

  And Onyx.

  I clap my hand over my mouth. How could I forget about Onyx? She was in the supernaturals' grasp. I had to save her.

  I'm silent for a while, my face in my hands. I'm emotionally and physically exhausted. So much bad has happened in the last few days, but now I have a chance, a chance to escape and save everyone.

  "Marina." Reya gently shakes my shoulder. "We're here."

  I gasp as a large beige planet comes into view. It seems to be lopsided, with several bumps and cracks in the surface. Clouds swirl around its surface.

  "You found another habitable planet," I marvel.

  "Like I said, my mom is a very good astronomer."

  I'm unable to look away as the ship cruises through the planet's atmosphere. Below us is a large patch of rust colored ground littered with strange plant looking things. 

  I grab my seatbelt and hold on tight as our Capsule 11 lands with a thump. I'm speechless. That was... incredible.

  "Come on." Reya stands up and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet. "Let's take you to meet the young man we rescued yesterday."

  She pulls me out of the ship's cockpit to the smooth white entrance room. Before we can open the hatch, it raises from the outside to reveal sweet-smelling air and a tall human outside the ship.

  "No need," Reya whispers happily in my ear. "He seems to be right in front of us. Get back, get back."

  I skunk back into the corner where he couldn't see me. I was going to meet another human.

  I took a deep breath and listen.

   "Reya!" the boy cries happily. "I missed you! You're back!"

  I stagger backwards, feeling like I've been sucker-punched in the gut. The world is spinning.

  His voice... it's so familiar.

  "Oh, I was only gone for  one day," Reya says. "And I brought someone else from A-19."

  "Really?"

  Tears leak down my cheeks. I can't do this. This isn't happening.

"Come here," Reya tells me, beckoning me closer. 

  Slowly, I stumble forward. I can't say anything, or breathe, I can barely move.

  The boy's bright smile fades into a gasp of shock. I sob harder seeing his ever so familiar bright blue eyes and wild dark hair.

  "No..." the boy whispers, his eyes growing watery. "No..."

  I force myself to look up, holding his gaze. My voice shaking, I cry out. 

  "H-... Heath?"