Vai

"Wake up, son."

For a brief, horrid moment, I thought this was the time when I first woke up on Mars after my 79 years of sleep. The waves of panic tingled through my limbs and I didn't want to open my eyes to see my old room.

"Wake up, sir," Warpaint said.

Warpaint wasn't there when I first woke up. And I hadn't really been asleep. I was a clone. That brought me back to reality and my heartbeat calmed, but also left me hollow. My eyes fluttered open.

"What time is it?" I muttered. It could be hard to tell the time on the ship. It wasn't like I could just look out the window to see the sun. The ship did dim it's light during the night hours of Gathering time, but you could fix your own room lights to go completely out or stay lit all the time. I had turned mine off.

"About 2 a.m. The miasmids are making their move," my dad said. He stood by my bed. Warpaint stood behind him.

I sat up straight and threw the covers off. "They are attacking? In the open? How is the government responding."

"No," my dad said. "You misunderstand. They are moving against your friends."

I swung my legs out over the side of the bed and stood. "I've got to help them."

My dad nodded. "That's why I woke you. Owen and his parents are the most vulnerable. We'll go to them first and then down to deck 7 to help El and the others. I already called and warned them."

"What about Lieutenant Tanpo?"

"I called her too. I don't know if she can get out of her quarters before they come for her. We will see to her too, but first, Owen. My information came in just now."

I put on my shoes, but didn't bother to change out of my pajamas. I led the way out of my room.

"Who gave you the information?" I asked.

"Your mom."

I stopped. My dad continued on passed me. I scrambled after him.

"They've found a way to keep the computer from eavesdropping on them. I'm not sure how," my dad continued as he walked into the corridor. "But if they communicate through the miasmids and not directly with each other, that might be how."

We turned into the corridor that led to Owen's quarters. Six security officers in uniforms were at the door. The door slid open to reveal Owen's father.

"Officers," Mr. Morgan said, "it's late. How can we help you?"

"Close your door, Miles," my dad called from down the corridor.

Mr. Morgan stepped back further into the room. The door began to slide shut. Two security officers scowled at my dad and angled themselves towards us. The other four rushed into Owen's quarters. The door slid back open. They were programmed not to shut on anyone for safety reasons.

I heard Mrs. Morgan say, "What is your business here?" just as we reached the two officers who blocked us from entering.

"Stand aside," my dad said in that voice that demanded obedience.

The two officers looked at each other unsure. "He outranks us," one of the officers said just as someone inside said, "Your son is under arrest."

"I am?" Owen's voice said from inside.

A few heads poked out from the nearby quarters.

"Stay inside," both my dad and one of the officers said.

"Stand aside," my dad said again but this time with even more command in his voice. The two officers split apart and my dad stepped through them. I quickly followed. Warpaint followed me. I dismissed the officers behind me as I knew Warpaint could take care of them if it came to it.

In the living quarters, 3 of the officers and Owen's parents stood nearby as the tallest human placed restraints on Owen's tiny wrists.

"Don't let them take him," my father said to Mrs. Morgan. "They are being controlled by miasmids."

Every pair of the officer's eyes turned to glare at my father with a pink glint.

The two officers that we had just left outside in the corridor tried to grab me from behind. Warpaint knocked them both out back into the corridor. I put my green shield up just in case.

A male human officer rushed my dad. My dad punched him in the nose and the man collapsed at my dad's feet. He was very old - long passed the age a human should live, but he was still strong.

The two female security officers went after Owen's parents. I had momentarily forgotten they had the light too. Mrs. Morgan's blue shield went up as did Mr. Morgan's yellow shield. Both of Mrs. Morgan's hands shot forward and I saw the blue power - much like Esther's pink power - push the two security officers back until they hit the wall. They hit the wall hard and crumpled to the ground. Like Esther's, Mrs. Morgan's power wasn't wind, but actual power that pushed them back.

Owen's entire body lit up in flames. The security officer behind him backed away, took a look at his downed officers and ran out the door. The two officers Warpaint pushed into the corridor followed him. The other 3 were still dazed and slumped on the floor. Owen let his flames die out before the fire alarm could sound.

"Are you all right?" Mrs. Morgan asked as she and her husband rushed to Owen's side.

"I'm fine," he said, "but - " he held up his hands to show the restraints still around his wrists.

My dad took three long strides to reach Owen and punched in the code to remove the restraints. No one questioned how he knew the code.

"Lieutenant Tanpo's power is her shield," I said. "She is going to have a hard time fighting them off if six security officers go after her."

My father nodded. "We'll go to her next." He started to the door. I followed.

"What about these other officers?" Mr. Morgan asked as he and his family followed us.

"Leave them for now," my father said.

Owen and Mrs. Morgan's legs worked triple time to keep up the pace with me and my father. Mr. Morgan had to work to keep up with us too. His legs were longer than Owen and Mrs. Morgan's, but not as long as mine and my father's.

It didn't take us long to reach the corridor that led to Lieutenant Tanpo's quarters. Six guards were outside her door. Her door was open and she stood calmly in the door frame. Her orange shield bubbled around her and the door frame. The six guards - 2 Bundu-Jo, 1 human and 3 Starwatchers - pounded on the shield they couldn't see with their batons.

"Whatever your using," one of the Starwatchers said, "stop it now. You are under arrest."

Lieutenant Tanpo nodded towards us over the Starwatchers's heads in greeting.

My father stopped in the middle of the dim corridor. He couldn't see her orange shield either.

A loud, high pitched screech filled the corridor. It vibrated in my skull and sharp pain rang through my ears. I stopped and covered my ears with my hands. I grinded my palms into my ears hoping that would stop the sound and pain. It didn't.

I wasn't the only one who stopped. Only Warpaint and Mr. Morgan continued forward. All of the officers stopped pounding on Lieutenant Tanpo's shield to cover their ears. The 3 Starwatchers were actually writhing in pain on the corridor floor, holding their long, furry ears tightly against their small faces.

Warpaint and Mr. Morgan reached Lieutenant Tanpo - who also had her hands covering her ears. She didn't drop her shield, but she allowed Warpaint and Mr. Morgan in. Mr. Morgan grabbed the lieutenant by her elbow and pulled her out of her room. Mr. Morgan led her back to us. Warpaint stopped a moment and tilted his head to the side as he stared at us all holding our heads. I had been in his head long enough to know he was trying to figure out what we were doing. The sound didn't hurt him like it hurt us. It was kind of cute actually, the way he tilted his head - like a puppy. An extremely large, metallic puppy that could kill you. Then he caught up to Mr. Morgan and the rest of us.

The sound died away and I could breathe again. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. My hands dropped back to my sides.

"Sorry," Mr. Morgan said. "I'm still trying to learn how to control it."

He pulled Lieutenant Tanpo passed us and continued on down the corridor away from the officers. That awful, painful sound was Mr. Morgan's power? We followed them as we left the officers to help their 3 Starwatchers.

"Where to now?" Mr. Morgan asked in the lead.

"El's," my dad said.

Mr. Morgan nodded and led the way to the elevators.

The corridor to Shel's quarters was quiet. We didn't see any security officers. My dad knocked on the door. It immediately slid open. El stood on the other side with her red light gathered in the palm of her hand which was stretched out in front of her. She saw it was us and her hand dropped.

"You missed all the fun," she said. She stepped aside and we all filed passed her into the living quarters which were now really crowded. It wasn't just us and Shel's family - including Minmin and Esther - Hani, her mother and little sister were also in the room.

El waited until we were all standing inside and the door shut before she began speaking.

"What's going on? Why did we just have to chase off ten security officers with pink in their eyes?" El asked.

"The miasmids decided to move against you," my dad said.

"Wait," I said, "I have the light too. Why didn't they come after me?"

"Because they know Warpaint and I have Aether fields. They also know this ship's computer is special and that I was the one who programmed it. They don't want to risk killing me and not know how to control the ship's computer if they need to," my dad said.

"This ship's computer is special?" Hani asked. Her dark brown eyes shined with excitement. "How is it special?"

"Why is she here?" my dad asked. "The miasmids don't know - or at least they didn't know - that she has - " he stopped and looked pointedly at Hani's mom.

"I know about the light," Hani's mom said, "and the Corruption and everything. Hani told me."

"I opened her light and Nayoung's light," Hani said proudly.

We all looked at Owen. "I didn't know she was going to do that," Owen said defensively. Then to Hani he said, "Next time, tell us before you do that. How did you know how to open their light anyway?"

Hani shrugged a thin shoulder. "I just did what you did and found it and pulled it out," she said equally as proud as before.

"Did they attack you too?" my dad asked Hani.

"No. We heard the commotion down the corridor and saw them chasing off the security officers," Hani said.

"They'll probably come back with reinforcements," my dad said. "They really want to stop the light now before it's opened in others."

"What do we do?" Esther asked. "We can't let the light die out. And I think I just found which planet the Awakened One is hiding on."

"They'll come at night hoping to draw less attention," Shel said. "Is there somewhere we can all hide for the night?"

"The Starrise," Hani volunteered. "Spencer won't mind. It's closed at this hour so no one will know. And the Corruption doesn't know he has the light. Should we warn Nathan?"

"Maybe it's more dangerous for us all to be separated now," I said. "Even if they don't know Nathan and Spencer have the light yet, it's only a matter of time before they find out. Maybe it would be better if we just claimed a space in the gym and trained all together."

"Call Spencer and make sure it's all right," my father told Hani. "If it is, we will go to the Starrise for now."