Phantom Universe

Chapter 18: Transport

16 years old

That little bag contains everything she needs to brush her teeth, shampoo, condition, and brush her hair, and provides a full body deodorant after she uses the stream of water in the cave to wash off the last few days' residue. Jaden also finds the bag as fascinating as cooking breakfast.

Gage keeps his distance from Summer, letting her decide how close or far away she chooses to be to him. She's not sure what to do with the freedom he provides, but enjoys it all the same. They all sit in a circle around the cooked breakfast as the sun hits the rushing water and bathes the cavernous cave in crimson dawn. La lunamow is served in an Asian-type sauce with the strangest kind of beef Summer's ever tasted. As she literally licks the spoon clean, Gage offers up the rest of his food. She hesitates for a moment. "It's okay. Take it."

She accepts it, ravenous from lack of food the past several days. When she finishes with his portion, her belly finally feels full. This is the most energy she's had in weeks, it seems.

The waterfall, constantly in the background, suddenly becomes a vibrating mass of rippling water. "Ah, that would be the transport. They're earlier than they said." Cameron jumps to her feet. "Perfect."

A flat, oval-shaped, silver hovercraft breaks through the water, and the dust in the cave scatters in a storm. The noise from the wailing wind is deafening; the hovercraft's engine echoes through the caves passageways and reverberates back. Summer covers her eyes and crouches down, unsure how to react. She reaches out, hoping to find Gage. Not really knowing why she would be looking for him in the first place. It's automatic, she realizes. I am searching for him because I trust him. Before she can digest this bit of insight, a hand grasps hers and yanks her harshly to her feet. Blinking, she stares into the face of Max, one of the soldiers of the Canadian League. Her face drains of color. For a moment she considers resisting but doesn't know what will happen if she does.

Max, without the scowl, looks terrifying all on his own. His almost-white hair, grey eyes, and milky skin give him a sadistic appearance. With a locked jaw, his eyes squinting at her like she's just an annoying spider he can easily kill by knocking down her already-weak web, he looks more like a predator. Summer's light weight makes her easy to throw around, and that's exactly what Max does. His fingers clasp around her right wrist, pitch her across the cave and right through the open hovercraft door. It's Paige, the other soldier in the Canadian League, who catches her, painfully yanks her arm up behind her back, and smiles delightfully as Gage storms the hovercraft, yelling at them. His voice is lost in the chaos. Cameron's arm wraps around Jaden protectively, her cheekbones sharp, eyes starving for a fight, as they step onto the hovercraft. The door shuts, and it's like everyone's gone deaf it's so quiet. There isn't an eye that isn't huge, everyone in various states of upset.

An achingly silent second goes by before Gage yanks something black from his belt and slams it into Paige's neck. She jerks behind Summer as the blow hits, but she doesn't let go. Summer's eyes are still wide with shock. Her body shakes with uncontrollable tremors, and her blood freezes in her veins. I should've known my good luck wouldn't last long.

"What do you think you're doing, Brooks?" Gage's tone is bitingly cold as he regards the situation. The light angles from behind him, and his blond hair and beautifully angry face are framed like a painting. "Let go of her now. That's an order! And I won't repeat it."

"Or you'll what? Knock me out? Oh, I'm shaking in my boots," Paige sneers, goading him. A strange, delighted smile creeps up her face. "She's just a blue-eyed savage, just like the rest of them."

Summer's arm and shoulder tingles with pins and needles, her fingers already numb.

"If you aren't going to follow the orders of your commanding officer, I'll do what's necessary to obtain order again." Gage's teeth grit, his eyes hardening into emeralds. "Your name is Paige Brooks, not fate, therefore you have no right to decide anything about Summer's life!"