Captives

TWENTY-ONE

Michael moved the index finger of his new hand. That was the intention, anyway. He stared at the robotic fingers, willing them to move. One by one, he flexed them, curled them, wiggled them in the air. Then he clenched them into a titanium-alloy fist.

“How does it feel, Commander?” Timothy asked.

“Uh, it feels weird.”

He sat up straighter, his back resting against the plastic frame of the bed in Deliverance’s medical ward. The spider had connected his nerve endings and muscles to the hyperalloy robotic arm from Red Sphere, and the nanotechnology was working to make the connections heal faster than normal—much faster.

Michael unclenched his robotic hand and moved the fingers, clumsily at first, but he already had them doing things that the real ones could not.

It was just Michael and the AI in the private quarters, but Michael could hear commotion outside. The prisoners Katrina had freed on the container ship were being moved to the airship for medical treatment.

“This is really weird,” Michael said.

“Sir, it will take some getting used to,” Timothy said. “The nanotechnology will strengthen the connections between your nerves and muscles, and the wires from the robotic arm. You should be fully operational in a few days.”

Operational, Michael thought. Like a machine.

Having robotic parts, especially parts that had belonged to Dr. Julio Diaz, was starting to freak him out. It wasn’t until the spider finished the job and he woke up and saw his new arm that he really started thinking about what this would mean.

It means you can fight again. It means you can dive again.

“This was the only way,” Michael murmured.

“Pardon me, sir,” Timothy said. “I don’t understand your question.”

“Oh, nothing.”

Timothy cupped his hands behind his back. “Are you in any discomfort, Commander?”

Michael raised the arm to look at the swollen flesh around the stump, where the robotic spider had connected him with the resized mechanical limb. The tender skin and muscle did burn, but he hardly felt any pain beyond the tingle of the nanotechnology gel that was busy working its magic.

“Not really, to be honest,” Michael said.

“That’s good, sir. The nanotechnology should expedite the recovery process, but I must admit, I was a bit concerned about this operation.” He paused and added, “I’ve never used a spider before.”

“Thanks for keeping that to yourself earlier,” Michael said with a hint of a smile.

“I didn’t want to cause you any distress. Now that the mechanical parts have been connected to your nerves, you should no longer experience phantom pains.”

Michael’s grin widened. “I already feel better. Stronger.”

He got up from the bed, but a wave of dizziness overtook him, and he stumbled several feet before reaching out with his robotic hand. The only thing within reach was a white medical cart.

His hyperalloy palm bashed in the side and sent the cart crashing into the wall. Drawers popped out, and supplies scattered over the deck.

“Shit,” Michael growled.

The noise prompted a rap on the door. He closed his eyes and then opened them, blinking several times. When his vision returned, Layla stood in the open hatchway, with Captain DaVita behind her.

“Layla told me we could start calling you Tin again,” Katrina said. “Now I see why.”

Michael smirked. “This is a bit stronger than that flimsy tin hat,” he said, raising the new arm. He slowly rotated it for the others to see.

Katrina walked over to his bedside and put her hand on his shoulder. “Good to see you, Commander.”

“Likewise, Captain.”

“It’s also good to see that the trip to Red Sphere netted something positive.”

“We also picked up another laser rifle,” Michael said. He looked over at Layla. “You tell her about the nuke?”

“Nuke?” Katrina said. “I’m listening.”

Layla shook her head.

“Nuke?” Katrina repeated.

“We dropped one on Red Sphere,” Michael said. “Wiped that evil place off the map.”

Katrina pursed her lips, frowning, but only for a moment.

“If it were up to me, I would have dropped them into the ocean a long time ago,” Michael said. “But in this case, I agreed with Lieutenant Mitchells. Red Sphere was a stain on human history and remained a clear and present danger to humankind. It needed to be destroyed.”

Katrina seemed to ponder his words for a few more seconds and then said, “I’ll talk to Lieutenant Mitchells about this later. But right now we need to plan our attack on the Metal Islands. Are you good to go to the bridge for the strategic planning meeting?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. We’re meeting there in an hour. In the meantime, enjoy some time together.” Katrina stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“A little privacy, Timothy?” Michael said.

The AI had already vanished, but his voice replied, “Roger, Commander.”

Michael returned to the bed and sat, patting the mattress with his metal hand.

She sat down beside him, fingering the braid that lay over her shoulder. “How are you doing?”

“It feels odd, but it works.” He drummed his fingers on the bed.

She watched and let out a sigh.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just scared about the attack.”

“I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t scared,” he said. “But I’m ready to fight and see our friends again, and to see the sun.”

Layla smiled. It was almost the smile he had fallen in love with all those years ago. But this time, her heart wasn’t entirely in it. Something was bothering her.

“What is it?” he asked, brushing the braid away from her face and over her shoulder with his mechanical hand.

Her eyes flitted to the robotic fingers, but they didn’t seem to bother her.

“There’s something I want you to know,” she said. “I wasn’t going to tell you until this was all over, but if something happens, you deserve to know.”

Michael lowered his hand.

“I think I’m pregnant,” she said. Before he could respond, she added, “But that changes nothing as far as this fight is concerned. I’m still going to do my part. I’m still going to dive with you and the others.”

“Layla,” he said quietly. The thought of becoming a parent did change things. It changed everything.

“What?” she said when he didn’t finish his thought. “Say something, Tin.”

He turned so he could grab both her hands.

“I love you, Layla. You’re my person, and you’re all I’ve ever wanted. Adding another person to our team would be amazing, and that’s exactly why you can’t dive. It’s too dangerous. I want you here on Deliverance during the attack.”

“It’s a bad time for this news, I know.”

He held her gaze, staring into the eyes that he had loved since he was a kid. He and Layla had seen so much together, grown up together, and fought together to keep the airships in the sky.

“I want to dive with you,” she said. “We should be together for this.”

An emergency siren rang out, cutting her off. The rise and fall of the electronic whine echoed through the medical bay. Michael and Layla both stood and moved out to see what was happening.

He punched a comm button and connected to the bridge. “What the hell is going on?”

Ada Winslow responded a beat later. “We’re picking up a ship on the radar.”

“The Hive?”

“No,” Ada replied. “This is on the surface, and it’s headed our way. You’d better get to the bridge, Commander.”

The horns ceased as the last of the Cazador boats vanished on the horizon, the red blinking lights swallowed by the darkness. The call to war was over, replaced by the chiming of some distant bell.

The ding, ding, ding reverberated through the capitol tower. Magnolia’s heart quickened with the chime, and she took in a deep breath to try to calm down.

She knew what the bells meant.

They were a warning, like the emergency sirens on the airships. The lack of movement in the hallways proved that. Everything was on lockdown, which made escaping all the more difficult.

That was why she had taken refuge in the room that Inge and Sofia shared.

“There are too many guards,” Inge said. “You can’t escape.”

“There is no way out of here even if you could get off this rig,” Sofia said.

Magnolia pulled back the drape covering the windows. The Sea Wolf was still docked below, but she had no idea how the hell she was going to get twelve floors down.

She didn’t even have a pair of shoes and was still dressed in a pair of shorts and a ripped T-shirt.

Magnolia turned back to the two women. Besides Rodger and Miles, they were the closest thing to friends she had on the Metal Islands.

“You attacked a scribe and killed two guards,” Inge said. “El Pulpo will not forgive these sins. He will…”

Imulah mumbled into the ripped sleeve she had tied around his mouth. He sat in a chair, gripping his hand, which was still leaking blood onto the floor.

“That’s why I have to try to escape,” Magnolia replied. “You’re welcome to come with me, but you’ve got about a minute to make up your mind.”

Footfalls clanked in the hallway outside their locked door. Armed with only a knife, she had a feeling that things were about to get ugly. But she was more than ready to fight, even if it came down to using her teeth.

A rap sounded on the doorway across the hall, and then came the shouts.

“¡Abra!”

The Cazador yelled again, and more deep voices called out.

“Sofia, please, I just need some clothes and shoes,” Magnolia whispered.

The voices continued as the door across from their quarters opened. A woman spoke rapidly, and Magnolia pointed her knife at Imulah to keep him quiet.

Sofia moved to a dresser and pulled out a pair of black pants and a black shirt, and then a black scarf.

Less than a minute later, Magnolia was clothed. Inge and Imulah looked on, but Sofia abruptly pulled off her shirt and brushed her long black hair over her shoulder, exposing the patchwork of raised scars.

“I’m leaving, too, Inge,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I’ve decided I’d rather die than stay here any longer.”

Inge sat on the left of the two beds and looked to the floor. A tear fell between her feet.

“You can come with us,” Magnolia said.

“I… I can’t.” Inge kept her eyes on the floor—the gaze of a broken, terrified woman.

Magnolia knew then there was no changing Inge’s mind. Fear had her paralyzed.

The locked door suddenly rattled, and a male voice boomed outside.

Magnolia tiptoed over to Imulah, pointing the knife at his lap. “Don’t make a peep, or you’re going to lose your peepee.”

His eyes widened.

“You do have one of those, right?” I already know you don’t have any balls.

He nodded.

Sofia replied in Spanish to the man in the hallway, and the door handle stopped shaking. She said something else, and the footfalls continued.

“What did you say to them?” Magnolia asked quietly.

Sofia flashed a pretty grin. “That I’m alone and naked and if they do come in and see me, their king will make them pay with their eyes.”

Sofia put a necklace on, grabbed a book from the top of her dresser, and opened it up. The pages had been cut out, leaving room for a handgun.

She was full of surprises tonight.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Magnolia asked.

“My lover.”

“Lover?” I sure as hell know you’re not talking about el Pulpo.

“I’ll tell you about him later.”

“Maybe he can help us escape,” Magnolia said.

Sofia stuffed the gun into the back of her waistband and covered the grip with her long black hair. “He’s not here. He’s off on a mission.”

“Got it.” Magnolia walked toward the door, but Sofia shook her head.

“Not that way.”

“Where, then?”

Sofia moved to the glass doors that opened onto a balcony.

“Be careful, Sofia,” Inge said. She got off the bed and walked over.

“Make sure Imulah doesn’t rat us out, okay?” Magnolia said.

Inge nodded, but Magnolia didn’t trust the redhead. She moved back to the scribe and said, “Sorry about this.”

He tilted his head, puzzled. Then came the flash of realization in his eyes.

“Please, don’t,” he mumbled.

Before he could react, she swung, hammering the back of his head with the heel of her fist and the butt of the knife hilt, effectively knocking him out cold.

She almost felt bad as she walked away, but Imulah had made his choice, along with Inge. Now she and Sofia were making theirs, even if it ended in death.

“Hope you know how to climb,” Sofia said as she opened the doors. The chiming of the bell grew louder, and Magnolia felt an invigorating gust of fresh air.

She took a second to look out over the star-filled sky, and the moon’s shimmery reflection on the water. The flowers growing in pots on the balcony moved in the salt breeze.

God, this really could have been paradise.

“Let’s go,” Sofia said. She swung her legs over the railing and bent down, then dropped to the next balcony. Magnolia looked over the edge and saw Sofia’s grinning face about ten feet below.

“You coming, or what?” she asked.

Magnolia followed the younger, more agile woman down two floors. Sofia reminded her of a version of herself when she was still in her twenties.

At the third balcony down, two kids looked out from behind cracked glass doors. A well-built man in a tattered white T-shirt and dungarees emerged in the living space behind them, and Sofia put her finger against her lips.

The man nodded and vanished back into his quarters with both kids. That was when Magnolia saw the gun in Sofia’s right hand. She tucked it back into her pants and went over the next railing.

They were on the fifteenth floor, not even halfway down.

A steady clanking sounded over the chiming bells as two elevator cages, one of which she had never seen before, cranked up toward the airship rooftop.

Magnolia looked down. The Sea Wolf bobbed in the torchlight. Still moored to the dock, it was there for the taking. All she had to do was get there and send out a transmission warning her friends not to come… And then get the hell out of this awful place.

They dropped to the next balcony, the next, then another. On the eleventh floor, Magnolia landed off-kilter on the foot she had bruised kicking the Cazador soldier in the jaw.

Sofia was already over the next railing. A shout rang out, and Magnolia limped over to check. On the balcony below, a husky Cazador soldier had Sofia by the throat. He pushed her against the railing, nearly knocking her over the side.

Magnolia moved to the right side of the railing and stuck her knife between her teeth. Then she swung her legs over and crouched down. Grabbing the bars, she lowered herself instead of dropping.

When she was a foot off the deck, she dropped silently and buried the knife in the man’s right kidney.

Letting go of Sofia, he arched backward, in too much pain even to scream. Magnolia pulled the blade out and stabbed him again, this time under the jaw, pushing the blade deep into his brain.

The fat guy crumpled, jerked, and lay still. She bent down and relieved him of her knife and a handgun.

Sofia massaged her neck, gasping for air.

“¿Bien?” Magnolia asked.

“Sí.”

Magnolia moved to the railing and took the lead. She made it down to the eighth floor before the pain in her foot stopped her.

Sofia, still breathing heavily, dropped down beside her.

“You good?” she asked.

Magnolia nodded, seeing motion through the glass door behind Sofia. Another kid stood watching them—a girl this time, no older than seven.

She raised a hand, and Magnolia raised hers to wave. But there was something else in the room.

Cazador soldiers stood in the hallway outside the open entrance door.

“Oh, shit,” Magnolia said.

They dropped to the next balcony together this time, just as the glass window above exploded in a spray of gunfire. The next two balconies went by fast, Magnolia gritting her teeth with each impact.

At the sixth floor, a Cazador soldier stood waiting. He lunged with a spear, which Sofia avoided by jumping to the side. Magnolia grabbed the shaft and pulled, but the guy yanked back.

As Sofia raised her pistol, gunfire rang out several balconies above them. She moved away to avoid the rounds pinging off the rail. Jumping to the side, Magnolia moved under the roof for cover—right into the path of the man still holding the spear.

He jabbed at her head, then at Sofia, as more gunfire came from above. This time, Sofia grabbed the shaft and pulled so hard, the guy stumbled. Magnolia tripped him, and he sprawled near the railing, where gunfire ricocheted off the metal on both sides of his head.

When he got up, Magnolia used the eight feet of space to run and jump-kick him in the chest. The impact knocked him over the side.

A short yelp and a splash followed.

Magnolia and Sofia pulled their handguns and moved to opposite ends of the balcony. After a nod, they both maneuvered for shots and fired at the deck above them.

One of the Cazadores on Magnolia’s side backed away, but the other, caught off guard, took a bullet to the head and slumped away from her view.

“I’m clear,” Sofia said, still pointing her gun above them. “You go first.”

Magnolia wasted no time. She swung down to the next balcony and covered Sofia while she climbed down. A head popped up above, and Magnolia closed one eye. The first shot missed, but the second took off his ear, forcing him back.

They had made it to the fourth floor when reinforcements showed up on balconies to the right and left. The pistol fire turned into automatic spray as the warriors busted out the big guns.

Magnolia and Sofia backed up to the glass door. Glancing over her shoulder, Magnolia looked inside the quarters. Going back inside would be a death sentence.

There was only one way out of this.

“We have to jump,” she said.

Bullets pounded the railings around them and punched through the metal platform. Sofia gave a firm nod and drew in a breath. They tucked their weapons into their waistbands before bolting for the edge.

Sofia went over headfirst, but Magnolia hurdled the railing, narrowly clearing it. The fall lasted only a moment. The dark water rose up to meet her faster than she expected, and she slammed into the surface hard, clutching her weapons with one hand and holding her nose with the other.

The cool water was a jolt to her sweaty body. She kicked up toward the glow of the moon. Bullets lanced into the surface.

“Down!” Sofia yelled.

Magnolia ducked under the water and kept kicking. She couldn’t see anything, and the horror of not knowing what else lurked in the depths filled her with adrenaline. She swam even harder when she realized she did know what lurked in these waters.

Bullets cut through from above, and it was just a matter of time before one ripped into her, sending her to the bottom, where the giant octopus these people worshipped would find her.

No. This isn’t where your life comes to an end.

She kicked harder, pulled harder, swam faster.

For the moment, Magnolia was the woman she had been at Sofia’s age, when she first dived to the surface and survived impossible situations because she did what it took to survive. That was what she had always done.

She would never be a slave again.

Kicking back to the surface for air, she glimpsed the docks ahead. Only a few more strokes. Sofia was already pulling herself up onto the dock.

The gunmen on the balconies had retreated into the building.

Magnolia took a moment to tread water and look around. The torches flickered in the breeze, creating shadows over the docks.

“Come on!” Sofia said, reaching out to her.

Magnolia kicked over toward the younger woman, but something seemed off… As she swam, she felt for her pistol, but it was gone, lost in the fall. She pulled the sheath knife from her waist and put it between her teeth on the final kick to Sofia.

They locked hands, and Sofia pulled her out of the water. As she stood up, she saw the elevator clanking down from the decks thirty feet above.

“Run!” Magnolia said.

They sprinted down the dock toward the Sea Wolf, the clanking of the elevator urging them on. It hit the bottom and disgorged six soldiers.

Sofia fired over her shoulder on the run.

But these warriors did not return fire. Maybe they didn’t want to damage one of el Pulpo’s prized trophies. If that was the case, it gave the women an advantage.

Sofia was the first onto the Sea Wolf. She jumped over the gate leading to the starboard side and moved over to the motors. “Cut us free,” she said.

Magnolia used her knife to saw through the bow rope, then moved back to the stern, where Sofia was still working. She pulled on a cord, and the motor choked to life.

The sound prompted more shouts from the men running up the dock. They were almost to the Sea Wolf.

Magnolia went to the pilothouse but stopped at the open hatch. Most of the dashboard was gone, the monitors stripped and cables sticking out of the gaps.

A new wheel and a throttle lever had been mounted to the dash. Replaced windows gave her a view of the men running onto the piers. She put the boat in reverse and pulled away from the dock as the young Cazador soldiers all made it to the edge. One brazen teenager jumped onto the stern of the boat and landed in the razor wire.

Sofia shot him in the chest, and he slumped back into the wire. Return fire lanced across the bow—a warning, forcing Magnolia down and out of view.

Over the crack of gunfire came a whistling noise, the same type she had heard the night of the banquet. From her hunched position, she saw that the radio she had used on the journey was also gone. The Cazadores had replaced it with what looked like an analog radio.

“No, no, no!” she shouted, slamming the dashboard with her palm. She had no idea how to use the radio, and the airships hardly ever monitored the old analog frequencies.

Magnolia’s gut tightened with dread as she peered out of the glass. The Cazador soldiers aimed their rifles at the boat, and muzzle flashes flickered across the docks. Apparently, they were less concerned now about damaging el Pulpo’s property.

Sofia joined her, blowing into the shell whistle on her necklace.

“This better work,” she said.

Magnolia reached up and pushed the lever down, burying the throttle in reverse. Another bullet broke through the windshield. The hole spiderwebbed, but the panel held firm.

The gunfire suddenly stopped, and for a moment there was only silence. A scream shattered the calm. This was not the angry shouting Magnolia had heard earlier. These were cries of pain and panic.

She slowly got up as three Cazador soldiers rose into the air, wrapped up in giant, slithering arms. The men twisted and howled as the beast pulled them off the docks as easily as a child playing with stuffed animals.

The body of the mutant creature surfaced—a slimy back covered in flaps and bumps. She couldn’t see the eyes, but she already knew what they looked like after her close encounter on the open seas.

“It worked,” Sofia said, holding the necklace. She grinned as a tentacle lined with suction cups snaked over the dock and snatched a fleeing soldier who had almost made it back into the elevator. Two others managed to flee before the giant arms could wrap them up.

Magnolia stood up, turned the boat around, and pushed the throttle lever forward. By now, Sofia had the other two motors started, and the boat surged away from the capitol tower.

As they turned, a boneless pink limb slapped the front of the boat. It curled delicately around the corpse in the razor wire and plucked it away.

Magnolia shivered as the giant cephalopod slipped beneath the Sea Wolf’s wake. The thing could as easily have snatched her or Sofia instead of the dead soldier.

She turned her attention to the radio. “Do you know how to use that?”

“Yes,” Sofia said, “but I think we have bigger problems right now.”

“I need to get a message to my friends, send out an SOS, and warn them not to come here.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Sofia said.

While Sofia worked on the radio, Magnolia looked out over the waves. She had no idea where to go now that they had escaped. She also had no idea where either X or Miles was, and she didn’t know how much gas she had in the tanks.

The only thing she knew for certain was Rodger’s location. She had left him to the Cazadores once before, and she wasn’t going to do it again.

She scanned the distant oil rigs, trying to remember their configuration from when she sailed past them a few hours earlier.

“I think I got it working,” Sofia said. “We can send a message out on this frequency and hope someone who’s monitoring analog dials us in.”

“Take the wheel,” Magnolia said. “We’re heading to the rig where they’re building a prison.”

She bent down and grabbed the handset while Sofia took the helm.

“This message is from Magnolia Katib. If anyone on Deliverance or the Hive receives this, do not come to the Metal Islands. I repeat, do not come here. This is not the place we thought it was. There are too many soldiers to fight. Please, do not—”

“Oh, shit,” Sofia said.

A bright light hit the windshield, and Sofia spun the wheel hard to port. Grabbing the back of a seat to keep from falling, Magnolia shielded her eyes from the bright glow.

She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear the rhythmic cough of the exhaust pipes.

“Down!” Sofia yelled.

Before Magnolia could react, something slammed into the Sea Wolf. She lost her footing and went down hard, hitting her head on the cabin bulkhead. Water spurted from the passage outside the open hatch to the other quarters, and between blinks she saw a long, sharp spike that had punched through the hull and the little galley where she once cooked shark meat.

Blood trickled down her forehead, dripping into the seawater that poured in through the breached hull. Sofia tried to get up but fell back down.

The loud purr of idling motors surrounded the Sea Wolf, and bright lights glared through the broken windshield. Magnolia looked around her for something to fight with, but she couldn’t even get up. This time, there was no escaping. No lucky break. She had played her cards and lost, and what came next would be worse than anything she could imagine.

Sofia crawled across the deck toward her, holding her gun in a shaky hand. Voices sounded outside, and the noise of boots slopping through water in the passage.

Magnolia pushed the hatch shut just as lights flickered into the command center. She managed to lock the hatch, then fell backward on a deck awash in seawater.

Sofia handed Magnolia the gun. “I’ve got seven bullets left,” she said. “Make them count.”

Magnolia took the pistol and trained it on the doorway at waist level.

“Save two bullets,” Sofia said. “We can’t let them take us alive.”