“Anderson? Are you serious? You cannot be serious.” Laura grabbed her head and sighed. “I thought you were dead. Now I kind of wish you were.”

“Yeah, same to you, Genki,” he said as he glared at her. “I thought you’d finally popped a blood vessel during one of your tantrums. Now I see that you’re still following Locke around like a dumb puppy. Is that any better?”

She held up her new dagger. “I’m sure gonna feel better after I sink this in your—”

“Manning?” Anderson laughed and pointed at Manning like he’d just told the best joke in existence. I didn’t get it, but Anderson was pretty insane anyway. The dude had bullied me and Laura for years just because…actually I had no idea why it had started. Anderson was just a big jerk, simple as that. “You got so desperate for crewmates that you brought our old instructor? Course, he only taught me for a year before I dipped. I should have left sooner. Check it out.”

He motioned to his red and black space suit. It had so many jagged edges that it reminded me of Beth’s knight suit. The weirdest part was that a dark cape flowed down his back. Either his suit designer was just that dramatic, or Anderson the school bully had climbed to the top of Frost’s forces in a year. Nothing about this added up.

“I don’t want to check you out, I want you to explain all of this.” I gestured to the ship. “I want to know why you’re here, and how you’re working for Frost. You’ve been missing for a year and you expect me to believe that this is where you’ve been? Floating around in space, transporting people that the public thinks are dead?”

He grimaced. “Don’t act like you care. I bet you didn’t even ask around about me. Didn’t swing by my house or nothing. I vanished off the face of the Moon and you didn’t bat an eye, admit it.”

Rage flooded my veins. “My parents died, you jackass. You think I had time to see what my bully was up to?”

Nessa pointed her glowing palm at him. “Clearly this foul-mouthed heathen is more of a distraction than an obstacle. Let’s get this confrontation over with. Then we’ll free the captive…and head back to the armory.”

Anderson groaned. “Now who’s this chick? How many girls you got following you around? Come on, Locke, leave some for the rest of us.”

ZWOOM!

Nessa fired at Anderson, but both of his robots jumped in front of the silver blast. The explosion didn’t nudge them, and Anderson hadn’t flinched. This would be a problem.

“Mollis and Asper.” Anderson motioned to the bots. Mollis was the blue and green one. Asper was red and purple. Together, they were the annoying, metallic duo. “The only crew I got, and the best one any guy can have. Good old Frost handed them over so they could help me rescue you from your Oppressed buddies. Is that who this chick is? I thought you were nabbed by pirates, but she doesn’t seem like a pirate to me.”

“Frost gave you all of this, to save me?” I said. “Why? What did she tell you about me?”

If she’d told him I was a Hybrid, then it proved that she’d known all along. If not, then how could she justify doing all this to save some kid? Then again, I wasn’t just “some kid” thanks to Grandpa.

“God, Locke, do you want to stand around talking all day? Let me explain this all in one go. All she said was that you were valuable. There was other stuff about you being important, blah, blah, blah; I really didn’t care. You’re still alive, so you obviously don’t need help. I just came because Frost promised me something cool if I did. Frost trained me for a year to become your ‘secret bodyguard’ in case you ever needed backup. Makes me sick, but at least I get something out of it. So let’s go, Locke.” He crossed his arms. “You do want to go home, don’t you?”

This had been bound to happen eventually. Up until now, I’d stood on the line separating the sides: Frost’s and Surge’s. I’d avoided picking one or the other. I’d gone after the shield generator to get what Laura, Manning, and I wanted. If Anderson took us back now we wouldn’t get any of those things because I’d failed to retrieve the generator when I had the chance. We’d get to go home, but what did that mean?

For me, it meant going back to Opifex’s place, I mean, my cruiser. Laura would go back to her parents. Enough said. Manning would go back to his empty house and drown in his war-related sorrow. None of that sounded appealing. None of those places were homes.

We already had a home.

I sighed. “I’ll be hearing about this one forever, but no. I don’t want to go back to the First Division…yet. Tell Frost we’ll go back when we want to go back. Might take a while, but it’s what I’m deciding.”

Nessa smiled but tried to hide it by looking away again. Laura’s eyes widened in shock, and Manning’s face was just conflicted. This was the opposite of every discussion we’d ever had. This was something I had to explain. I hoped that they’d understand.

Anderson clapped like I’d just given a resounding speech. “Pretty heartfelt, Locke. I almost shed a tear. Only one problem: this isn’t actually a choice. If I don’t bring you back, I don’t get that cool thing I was talking about. A whole year of training wasted. You don’t want that, do you?”

“If you don’t want to go back to Frost, then you can just come with us.” I shrugged to signify that I was making this up as I went along. “Our base is full of jerks.”

“You’d better be talking about Dylan,” Nessa said, “who this individual reminds me of. We don’t need a second Dylan.”

Anderson extended his arm. Two barrels shot out of it, above the back of his hand. His suit had guns in it. Now I knew the suit designer was just being extra.

“I’m so sick of hearing you guys talk.” He pointed his arm at me. “How long has it been since I last kicked your ass, Locke? Hope you’ve been keeping score.”

Orange bullets spurted from the barrels. Nessa pushed me out of the way and shielded herself with her arms. She grunted as a stream of orange pelted her. Before I could even move, Manning whipped out his pistol and fired it. The robots took the blow again. Luckily, they blocked Anderson, cutting off the orange bullets. I went back to Nessa, who was rubbing her arms. Her suit was a little dented, but she was otherwise fine.

“Oh, yeah? I should even the odds.” Anderson pushed back a panel on his other arm and tapped buttons on it.

Mollis and Asper’s blue lights flickered and became red. Both of them charged at us, shaking the whole room. Manning and Nessa fired, but, once again, the explosions didn’t affect them. What the heck could stop monsters like that? My hands crackled as if to provide the answer. Of course.

I held out my hands as the robots bounded closer. They crackled as I envisioned my powers activating. I channeled the heat that was filling my forehead then squinted as blinding electricity shot out of my fingers. I’d done it. The streams latched on to the robots, halting their advance a foot away from us. Both of them began to convulse as they made crackling sounds.

“What the hell?” Anderson’s jaw dropped. “What was that? Some stupid invention of yours? It was a neat party trick, I’ll give you that.”

I shoved the convulsing robots aside as I marched toward Anderson. “Yeah. For my next trick, I’m gonna show you what happens when you mess with my friends.”

My legs felt heavy thanks to the fatigue, but, hopefully, I had enough energy to finish this. I raised a crackling hand up to Anderson’s face. It’d just take one good lightning bolt to end this. Like the one I’d accidentally used on the Kilo. Or Krim. That was the first time I’d ever used my electricity. I’d probably scarred him. Could I live with doing that again?

“Wander, why are you hesitating?” Nessa said as she charged her palm blast. “He’s going to—”

I didn’t hear the rest of her warning over the orange blast. The force knocked me to the floor. Anderson had shot me while I was wide open. My chest burned, and my head hurt. The air heated as energy zoomed around overhead. Nessa, Manning, and Anderson must have been engaged in a firefight. It was two against one, so the odds were in our favor.

A series of whirling stomps proved me wrong. I pushed myself up just in time to see Mollis and Asper snap out of paralysis. They lumbered toward my friends. Nessa was the one ducking and firing at Anderson, but Manning and Laura turned to face Anderson’s buddies.

“Get back, Instructor.” Laura held up her dagger. “I got this!”

“Laura, wait,” Manning said as she dashed out of his reach.

Laura dodged a swing from Mollis and plunged her dagger into its chest. She smirked with pride until Mollis seized her hand. She tugged, but there was no way she would get free. Mollis beeped and buckled as the air distorted around it. The air flung Laura against the wall with a stomach-churning thud that I never wanted to hear again. She fell to the floor and groaned. Had that been a shock wave?

“Laura!” I directed my crackling hand toward the robot, but Anderson stomped on my wrist. “Ah!”

“Genki’s down already?” Anderson eyed her body and grinned. How long had he been standing over me? “I expected her to last longer. What about you, Locke? You getting up or giving up?”

“How did you—where’s Nessa?”

He pointed at the bots: she was locked in combat with Asper. Nessa unloaded bursts of plasma into its head, but that only slowed its advance. Manning was too preoccupied with dodging the Mollis bot’s blows to help. I raised my other wrist then retracted it before Anderson’s foot could find it as well. Then I reached into my suit and pulled out my wrench, swinging it at his hand as he reached for me.

“Ow! You little maniac.” Anderson rubbed his hand, but then he chuckled. “Just kidding. You think a wrench could hurt this suit? Give me that.”

He grabbed my wrench and yanked it from my hands. My palms went sweaty as I backed away. Anderson advanced as slowly as he could, sneering as he did. The cries of my friends filled my ears as I refused to look at them. There had to be something I could do. Some way out of this.

“You’re trying to figure some way out of this, aren’t you?” Anderson said in one of the lowest voices I’d ever heard. He was enjoying this too much. “Not gonna happen this time. I know you never won any of our fights, but it always ticked me off that you got close. This time? I wouldn’t be surprised if you peed your pants. You’re going home, Locke. Whether you like it or not.”

He lifted his foot and stomped down on my face. Fire engulfed every cell as I fell back. The immobile bodies of my friends were the last things I saw before darkness consumed me.

My head throbbed with pain. I refused to open my eyes. Then I remembered why it hurt.

I sat up. I was sitting on the floor of a small cell. There was no door, and there were no bars. So I could see into the hallway. Nothing was stopping me from stepping out into it. Manning was slumped against the wall of an identical cell across from me.

“Mann—what?” I looked down at my hands. They were contained in a huge block of glowing steel. Were these supposed to be handcuffs? I pushed them against the floor and rose to my feet. When I tried to run toward Manning, I bumped against something in the doorway. A red rash spread in midair where I hit the invisible wall. A solidios wall. “Dang it.”

“‘Dang it’? Come on, Locke, just swear already.” Anderson stepped into frame, wearing the exact same sneer he’d had earlier. Maybe his face was frozen. “Comfy? This is where I put the people who refuse my help. You and your sidekicks will be chilling here until we get to the First Ship. And, before you ask, I don’t care how you use the bathroom in those cuffs.”

I sighed and slumped against my wall like Manning. Technically he’d led us into this trap, but Anderson wouldn’t have been after us if it hadn’t been for me. Now we were being shipped back to President Frost against our will. What would she do to a rebel like Nessa? I couldn’t give up. There had to be a way out.

“What did Frost promise you?” I demanded. “Money? Fame?”

“Projecting there?” Anderson knelt down, literally stooping to my level. “You of all people should understand what she really promised me. You remember my big bro, Ben?”

I sighed. “Benjamin Oak, the ‘coolest bro in the galaxy.’ You never shut up about him in school. You threatened anyone who so much as scoffed at his name. Too bad none of us ever met the guy. He’d left for the military by the time you started bragging about him.”

“You remember all that? Aw Locke, you do care.” Anderson beamed at the ceiling, as if recalling a memory. “You couldn’t blame me for looking up to the guy. I never would have survived our crappy home life if it wasn’t for him. He was there for me when no one else was. Now he’s an ass-kicking soldier too? Couldn’t ask for a better bro. Problem is…he’s never around.”

There was real sadness in Anderson’s voice. Initially, all I’d felt regarding him was burning rage, but a semblance of pity had slipped through. Empathy sucked.

“So, you’re doing this to get him back?” I asked? “What does that have to do with me? Do you think delivering me to Frost is going to end the war?”

“No. Frost said she’d let me see him for a few days if I did what she wanted. No matter where he is or what he’s doing. Get it now? You’re nothing more than a way to reunite me with Ben. How does it feel, Locke?”

If that was really all I was to him, he wouldn’t have asked me how I felt about it. Not that I had time to psychoanalyze someone like Anderson.

“Even though I’m not as crazy as you, I get it. I don’t know if you saw before you left, but I lost my whole family to the AI. All except for Beth, who’s working for them now. She became a jerk, she hates my guts, and she wants nothing more than to capture me like you, but…she’s still my sister. I still love her and I want us to get along again. Except I know how unlikely that is. I wouldn’t hurt others for a chance to see her. You shouldn’t either. It’s not what Ben would want.”

THUMP!

Red inched away from where Anderson had struck the solidios. His face was twisted with anger. He had been sneering a moment ago, but now he was baring his teeth.

“Don’t you dare talk about my brother like you know him!” he shouted. “I don’t care about all that impossible crap you just told me. If you wouldn’t do anything for your sis, then you don’t know how I feel. We’ll be at the First Ship real soon. I hope you’re ready to explain to Frost why you seem so chummy with this rebel girl.” He looked to his left. That must have been where Nessa’s cell was. “I can’t wait to see how this ends.”

He stomped away. His heavy footsteps trailed off, followed by a door sliding shut. He was beyond reasoning. Not that I’d expected Anderson Oak to bring me anything but misery and frustration.

“Manning, how do we get out of here?” I asked, hoping that he could hear me. “You’ve got to have an idea, right?”

“I’m afraid there’s not much to work with.” Manning pointed at his toilet and sink. “One thing is for certain: we can’t allow ourselves to be delivered to ‘Madam President.’ I can’t believe I’ve wasted so much time serving that woman.”

“So you’ve made up your mind about her?”

“Of course I have. I was overjoyed to see Rebecca alive, but that was the only positive in the situation. President Frost saved her just so that she could use her for her own benefit. She hid her fate from me. This must be her endgame for all the Hybrids. It’s likely what she would have secretly done to Upton had we returned the generator. The only reason she hasn’t done it to me is because she trusts me to look after you. As soon as I’m no longer needed, I’ll be turned into a weapon too. It’s what I deserve for failing this mission.”

That must have sucked for Manning. He had previously thought the galaxy of Frost. She was the whole reason he still had Upton. Now he understood her true intentions. We still didn’t know what Surge had meant about Frost making Rebecca a weapon, but we would figure it out once we had freed her.

I examined my “handcuffs.” A keyhole sat on top of the cuffs, just above my hands. I only needed a key to unlock this stupid brick? That was great, but there was no way to get one. I’d need something like a bobby pin. I did have something small, but it wouldn’t work in its default state.

“Manning, maybe I can lock pick my way out if I smash my vivepen,” I said. “The skinny part in the middle might be good. The only problem is that this pen is a gift. I’ve already lost one of these; I don’t want to destroy a replacement that I was given.”

“Just do it,” Nessa said from behind my wall. I hadn’t known that she was awake. “I’ll get you another one. Just get us out of here.”

“You’d get me a second replacement? Why?”

“Don’t worry about it, idiot. We need to escape before that heathen warps us away.”

She had a point. There wasn’t time for sentimentality. The other problem was getting the pen out of my suit without my hands. Stuff fell out of pockets all the time. This wouldn’t be too hard. I lay down on the floor and flopped in an attempt to shake the pen out. I felt like a dying fish.

“I know Anderson is the bad guy, but is getting back to Frost such a bad thing?” Laura called from a cell across the hall. I hadn’t known she was awake too. “When we first got to the base, the plan was to wait for a good moment to steal the shield thing back. We weren’t supposed to become best buddies with the Oppressed weirdos.”

“I can still hear you,” Nessa said with a hint of annoyance.

“I don’t care. Wander, you apparently tried to steal it but you bailed? Why? Even without a ship, we would have figured something out.”

I stopped flopping long enough to think. “Laura, do you know how many crimes Frost is apparently responsible for? In comparison, even Surge seems sane. The Oppressed don’t have much, but they’re happy. They’re like one big family, even if they aren’t related. If we go back to Frost, she’ll want us to fight them. I don’t think I could.”

It was hard to admit that I secretly liked all these crazy rebels. I’d never really had cousins or extended family, so I’d always wondered what that was like. Being on the base had satisfied that curiosity. Oh, right. I was supposed to be flopping around.

“Yeah…I guess I don’t have much of a reason to go back either,” Laura said. “Since I’ve never gone along with the life my parents planned out for me, I guess I’ve always been a rebel. I’ve never embraced it until now. Now that I’m…free.” Realization dawned in her eyes. She was finally getting it. “That’s who Laura Genki is. A rebel. Heck yeah! I love the sound of that.”

“I can’t remain loyal to a woman who would capture and experiment on my friend,” Manning said. “I’m concerned about what this means for Upton, but he would encourage me to pursue my own path. I never thought I’d suggest this, but let’s become rebels. Officially.”

My vivepen fell from my pocket and clattered onto the floor. I didn’t know how long I’d been making a fool of myself with the flopping, but it had paid off. I pushed myself to my feet again. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Why was Nessa fine with it? Next time I’d help her modify it. No reason for her to do it alone.

I lifted my foot, gulped, and stomped on the pen. Blue and silver light flashed underneath my foot. I stepped off and grinned at the shattered plastic and metal. Not something I should have been happy about, but it would be a big help. A skinny white part lay beneath the dim, shattered barrel.

Ink cartridges were usually filled with…well it was obvious. Vivepens didn’t use conventional ink though, they used digi-ink. It was ink that could be converted into data at the click of a button. The cartridge was clear because the ink had been programmed into the pen itself rather than being stored.

I seriously needed to know how the cavemen of the 21st century had done anything without this tech.

I dropped to my knees and clamped my lips around the cartridge. Luckily the floor was as new as the rest of the ship, so it wasn’t too dirty. It was still the floor, though. I’d be disinfecting my mouth after this.

I lowered the makeshift key into the keyhole. I’d never lock-picked something before, so I was hopeful that the universe would humor me. My neck popped as I angled it to position the cartridge. It was hard to tell what part of this thing I was supposed to be pressing against. I could have missed the tumblers by a mile. Did handcuffs have tumblers?

“Don’t mean to rush you, but could you hurry up, Wander?” Laura pressed her scowling face against her solidios. “It’s a miracle that we haven’t warped yet.”

“I know that,” I said through clenched teeth, obscuring my words. “I’m doing my best.”

“You’re moving a vest? I couldn’t understand a word of that, dummy.”

I sighed, but a click halted all my brain activity. The cuffs slipped off my hands and crashed to the floor. I massaged my wrists as I grinned to myself.

“What was that?” Nessa cried out.

“Me being a genius. Hang tight guys, we’re busting out.”

I walked up to the doorframe and placed a hand on it. I took a deep breath. That usually helped me activate my powers. I focused on the wall dissipating, like it had when we’d seen Upton. Nothing happened. My hands didn’t crackle; the solidios didn’t show up at all.

“Wander? Did it work?” Laura pushed her back against the wall, rising to her feet.

I pushed my hand toward the doorway. It bumped against nothing. The red rash showed up again, like a giant red middle finger.

“No,” I said. My heart sped up. “It didn’t work. I don’t understand. It was so easy back in Red City that I did it by accident. Why isn’t it working now?”

“Perhaps you haven’t mastered your abilities enough,” Manning said. “It might also be because the panel is on the other side of your cell.”

He was right; the hand scanner was outside my cell. Seeing as I’d accidentally reanimated a whole bunch of AI without touching them, I doubted this would be a problem if I had more control. My electricity might work if I could get it to snake around and hit the panel. That required control that I might never get.

“Now what?” I pressed my forehead against the cool wall as I racked my brain. I could keep trying, but we were working against a time limit. Not to mention that I might never get results.

Nessa cleared her throat. “If we’re out of options…then I have a suggestion. I don’t know if Wander’s told you, but I have a cerebral implant. One of its features allows me to interact with and override technology. I may be able to disable our cells with it.”

“Then why didn’t you do that earlier?” Laura groaned and hit her head with the handcuff block. She must have been trying to slap her forehead. “Ow. Anyway, we could have been out of here.”

“Right, but that might be too much for the implant to handle.” I rubbed my chin as I thought this over. “Overriding such advanced tech with a head computer? If it overloaded your implant, it could fry your brain. I don’t think you should try it, Nessa. We’ll find another way.”

The silence was unbearable because I could envision the look on her face. I could imagine what she was thinking. She wasn’t the type to sit back and do nothing. How was I supposed to convince her to? I looked to Manning for guidance but found him lost in thought as well.

“The chances of success are high,” Manning said in a somber tone. “However, the risk is just as high. I cannot imagine a future in which you emerge unscathed from this. I would advise against it.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Nessa’s footsteps thundered in my ears. She must have been approaching the wall. Why couldn’t I at least see her? “If anything goes wrong, don’t shed a single tear over me. This is my choice.”

“It’s a terrible one.” I pounded the wall. “Don’t do this, please! I can get my powers to work. I just need more time!”

“Too bad we don’t have that.” Her voice wavered as she said that. She cleared her throat. “Save your electricity for something that matters. I can handle this. Just don’t lose this time. Give that waste of space a good beating from me. Okay…here goes.”

“No!”

Manning turned away. Laura gazed into Nessa’s cell, but her eyes were wide. My heart sped up as I waited. It was impossible to sit still. How could I be letting her do this? Why wasn’t she listening to me? She wouldn’t gain anything from this.

Electricity crackled as the solidios rash shrouded my doorway. I couldn’t see outside anymore, only red. It was working, but what about Nessa?

“Are you okay?” I shouted as the electricity got louder. “Nessa?”

“I’m fine.” Her voice shook like she was speaking during a bumpy ride. “I’m overriding the system now. I’ll be okay, so don’t—wha…ah! AH!”

“Nessa!”

The crackles were deafening now. The solidios hadn’t dissipated yet. I had to stare at a red wall while Nessa screamed in my ear. I couldn’t bear this torment. I stepped back and charged at the wall. Fire consumed me as I forced myself into the red. It wasn’t solid anymore, but it was as hot as the Sun. I covered my head since I hadn’t activated my helmet in time.

I broke through the fire and fell to the floor. My body was burning, but I jumped to my feet anyway. The red finally dissipated, but I hated what it revealed. Nessa lay in a crumpled heap in front of the door. A puddle of drool built up beside her.

“Oh god. Nessa?” I hooked an arm underneath her and pushed her up. Her eyes were glazed over, but she was warm. “Nessa. Say something; do something!”

She scrunched up her face. “Don’t…cry. I’m…warning you.”

I heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Now I’m gonna cry out of happiness. Does anything hurt?”

“Only head. Legs…numb.” She lifted her head, but it fell back almost immediately. “Can’t move. Go. Leave me.”

“What? I won’t leave you, even for a second. What if something happens while I’m gone?”

Blood trickled out of her nose as she forced an eye open. She was alive, but she wasn’t okay. What if she was unresponsive when I came back? What would I do then?

“Cute,” she said in a weak voice. It was getting weaker with each word. “You’re. Cute. When. Worried.”

She exhaled and shut her eyes. Her body went limp in my arms.

“What? No, don’t do this. Nessa!”

“Wander, please. We have to go.” Laura appeared at my side. Her hands were still in their restraints. “She did this so that we could rescue Rebecca and get out of here. If we don’t respect that, then what was the point?”

My stomach churned as I pulled Nessa closer. The ship crashing on New Earth. Fighting ruabrum. Finding out about Hybrids. Getting attacked by Upton. Fighting Surge. Getting shot by Beth. Jupiter. Now this.

Too much. Each was a blow to my heart, and I couldn’t take any more. I let out a strangled sigh as I set Nessa down. I placed two fingers under her ear. A faint thump greeted me. She was alive.

“You’re right, Laura. Let’s get moving.” I could tell from the blue sheen on my arm that my eyes were glowing. I was sure they were, considering the dark thoughts coursing through my head. “Let’s rescue Rebecca, and, while we’re at it, I’m gonna exchange a few words with our old pal, Anderson.”