The Energy Crusades (18 page)

"Get off your transporters," she commanded. "Get on your knees with your fists out!"

We obeyed immediately. One shaky hand extended in front of me as I came to my knees, and the other kept a tight hold on Ajax. I wanted to be brave and release my grip on him, but I couldn
'
t bring myself to do it. If something happened to one of us, then it happened to both of us.

The dogs charged at us with breathtaking speed and I braced myself for an impact. Instead of trampling us, however, they circled around and between us, sniffing at our clothing and generally sizing us up. They licked Tory
'
s face and she laughed as they smothered her. We got to our feet as soon as it became clear the dogs
were not going
to attack us. Tory told us to retract our transporters. "We
'
ll have to walk as long as they
'
re escorting us."

We began the trek into the ruined city, a walk of maybe twenty minutes. The dogs walked in a loose circle around us making it obvious they were doing the leading. As we neared, we could make out a lot more of the city. An antiquated road system was nearly unrecognizable except for the grid-like pattern it carved through the dilapidated buildings and ruined monuments. Overrun by vegetation, the roads and most of the tall buildings had crumbled beyond any usefulness. Trees grew right out of the roofs of some of them, and what were once skyscrapers were either toppled, with huge masses of concrete lying all about their peripheries, or they were burned out shells with broken glass and empty windows. Along some streets there was water lapping at whatever stood in its path, as if the ocean was slowly taking over. Whatever bridges once existed had long ago fallen, and the vertical and horizontal lines of the exposed rebar resembled the ribcages and vertebrae of the ancient beasts that once roamed the earth.

Still, there were signs of life among the ruins. People had been using the streets recently, the patterns were visible through the vegetation, and it wouldn
'
t be hard to figure out where they kept themselves. There were even signs of restoration. The old wooden poles, which were once the means of providing electricity throughout the city, were still intact. No wires extended from them; instead, they
'
d been equipped with solar cells. These ruins had energy. I looked over at Ajax. He met my eyes but his cool blue stare gave nothing away. Caden, however, did not mask the hurt and anger spilling across his features. How could these people function and provide their own energy without feeding into the Grids? Where did the children serve? How was the energy dispersed? There were too many questions swirling around my head.

The dogs continued to lead us through the overgrown streets. Tory walked slightly ahead of the rest of us and relished in her camaraderie with the dogs. Their large gray and white bodies stood almost to her waist, but she wasn
'
t the least bit intimidated.

Caden jerked his head toward a building ahead on our left. Among the other ruins, it stood neatly restored, a steel and glass behemoth at least 15 meters high. I was willing to bet the glass was solarized, and little needlepoints of anger pricked at my scalp. Not only did these people exist here; it looked as if they lived comfortably.

When the dogs slowed, Ajax poked me in the back. Ahead in the street, about ten meters from us, six people stood side by side in the overgrown road blocking our path. I sensed it was no coincidence that there were six of them and six of us. One of them stood slightly ahead of the others and my instincts told me we had found Jason Paris, although he kept a dark hood over his head and looked to be wearing solar glasses. Once again, he was dressed all in black, and I bristled at the sight, letting it bother me more than I wanted it to. He wasn
'
t an Athlete and he never would be no matter what color he chose to wear. My feelings were irrational and I tried to quell them. Beside him, the other resisters also wore hoods to cover their heads, but their clothing was a variety of colors. None of them wore energy suits.

The dogs abandoned us and trotted over to the resisters. Their leader made some kind of gesture and the dogs dispersed into the surrounding streets. Tory gave a little whimper as they faded from view. Ajax held up his hand and we halted in a line mirroring the way they stood, with Ajax just slightly in front of the rest of us.

"We can take them, Ajax!" Balor was ready to charge. Ajax shook his head and kept his gaze straight ahead.

"Of course we can, Bay; that
'
s not even a question. We need to use our heads. We don
'
t know how many more of them there are or what kind of weapons they have. Put your hands on your orbs and let them make the first move."

For several moments, nobody made a move. It was silent, until the one I assumed was Jason put a voice projector to his mouth and began to speak.

"We are peaceful beings and do not wish to harm you, even though you have trespassed into our city."

As he spoke, Balor fumbled around his pack for our own voice projector, a small, round device designed to carry a voice across some distance.

Jason continued, "You came here seeking information that you mistakenly believe belongs to the Reformation. We know the information belongs to us, but that fight is not between us today. We are willing to hand over the information, but we must ask for something in return." My fists clenched tightly at my sides.

"Ajax!" I demanded, stepping up beside him.

"I know, Kaia," he insisted and took the voice projector from Balor
'
s hands.

"We do not negotiate for what is rightfully ours," Ajax told them plainly. I admired the way he stood calmly, unruffled by Jason
'
s words and I mimicked his demeanor, unclenching my fists and willing myself to be as calm as he was.

"We are peaceful beings," the voice projected back, repeating what he
'
d already said. A chill ran down my spine as I thought I detected something familiar about the resister
'
s voice. "But we will not turn over the information without getting what is rightfully ours. Turn over the girl, and we will turn over what you came for."

My heart started to pound, filling my ears with its beats, like a drum getting louder and louder as the blood rushed through my veins and a dull ache began deep in my belly. I didn
'
t want to hear this, but there was nowhere for me to go.

Tori and I looked at each other and wondered which girl they were speaking of. The sinking feeling in my gut told me exactly which girl they were asking for.

Ajax remained silent for just a few heartbeats. He glanced at me, his blue eyes turning a deep gray while he lost just a bit of control over his feelings. Anger. Worry. Our fellow Crusaders remained still, but I could feel their anxiety rise. None of us expected anything like this. Ajax brought the voice projector to his mouth once again and said, "Do not insult us by thinking we would exchange a human life for what you have stolen. If you refuse to hand over the Reformation property, we will take it by force."

"Unlike the Reformation," Jason shot back, "We protect human lives. Give us the girl, or let her come willingly, and we will keep her safe at all costs. She is more valuable to us than any information."

Let her come willingly? Were they out of their minds? "Will any of us do?" Ajax projected back. "We can part with the big guy, if you can capture him."

Balor let out a huge roar and beat on his chest. He looked like a caged animal ready to spring at them. The rest of us chuckled and some of the tension eased. Their request was ridiculous, and perhaps they just meant to throw us off guard.

"We want the girl and we will stop at nothing to get her," Jason spoke up, ignoring the jest. "Wherever you track us, we will always be after the girl. We will never stop. We will capture her if we have to, but we
'
d rather not hurt any of you to get her. The Athlete belongs to us."

Crash
! My stomach fell into my feet. He
'
d said the words I dreaded. There was no other Athlete present.

"Are they serious?" Malik kept his voice low. "You know what, Ajax? Let
'
s give them the girl. They have no idea what she can do. Kaia, you run after him and show him just how valuable you are."

I struggled to keep my composure. "Why me, Malik?" I asked, but nobody had an answer for me. How did they even know who I was?

"Kaia," Malik
'
s voice was gentle, but firm. "Keep your head, girl. Run after him and keep your focus only on him. Don
'
t get distracted."

"No!" Ajax did not agree with Malik
'
s suggestion but he kept his voice low. "How do we know it
'
s not a trap? We can
'
t let them get her!"

"No way, Malik," Caden didn
'
t like it either.

"I agree with Malik," Balor put in. "Remember the left hook she threw on Atticus? She can take him, let her go."

"My orb will find her if anything goes wrong, and they already said they wouldn
'
t hurt her." Malik was firm. His orb was a prowler and Malik had trained it to find people. He swore it never failed to find the one he sought. Ajax turned his face away from the resisters and found mine.

"What do you want?" he asked, his worry like a cloud around him.

"Let me go," was my answer. I wanted the chance to get my hands on Jason Paris.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I
'
ll find you, okay?" I nodded up at him and momentarily forgot my anger while Ajax
'
s forehead creased with concern. It was rare to see him show any emotion and I didn
'
t want to look away, or forget what it looked like to see him care, but I forced myself to focus all of my attention back to the people in front of us, concentrating hard on their leader.

"Is everyone okay with the plan?" Malik spoke in a whisper.

"Yes," was the reply from Tory, Balor, Caden, and Ajax.

Jason took another few steps toward us and held up a case. It might have been the one we were meant to find, but we were too far away to see it properly. He made a gesture as if to motion me over, and I was stunned by his belief I might actually go with him willingly or be used as a trade by my Crusaders.

"Kaia Robi, we will protect you—" he started speaking again, but at the mention of my name I began to run. I ran at him so fast, you could see he was startled. He dropped the mouthpiece and fled before I could catch him. My friends chased the other resisters, who also chose to flee rather than fight, but my focus stayed on Jason as I followed him through the streets. As fast as I was, Jason matched my speed and he knew the streets far better than I did.

We ran through the city, slugging through the vegetation at points, or leaping over boulders of concrete or other debris. He was agile and leapt or swerved in anticipation of an obstacle but did not slow and neither did I. I kept after him. Although I held back a bit, I was surprised his stamina matched my own. Jason ran in and out of abandoned buildings and crumbling parking garages, through tunnels and old schoolyards, his pace suggesting he wasn
'
t trying to lose me, but lead me.

Finally, I tired of the chase. I was done letting him lead me around his city. He headed for a long tunnel, partially collapsed but still
passable
and I began to close the distance, unwilling to follow him too far into the crumbling darkness. In a burst of speed, I leaped at him, closing the gap between us and grabbing the back of his shirt just as he entered the tunnel. He struggled with me, drawing me deeper inside. Spinning out of his grip, I twisted his arm behind his back and brought him to his knees.

"How do you know who I am?" I demanded as I stood over him. It was dark and dank in the tunnel. I had originally thought it led back outside, but it looked like perhaps it went underground. Where had he been leading me?

"I
'
d never harm you," he said at my feet. "You
'
re making a mistake." I twisted his arm harder behind him. He grasped the ground with his other hand, but did not emit a sound and I eased up before his arm could break.

"How do you know me Jason Paris?" I wanted him to be aware I knew his name too and had some idea of who he was.

"Let me explain! Let me talk to you. I won
'
t run." His voice was strained, but still oddly familiar.

"Get up," I ordered, releasing his arm. "Hand me the information and I
'
ll hear what you have to say." I wanted to get a good look at him. He stood up and faced me, but his solar glasses and hood kept him hidden. We stood in the tunnel in the semi-darkness and he backed up against the concrete wall. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black case. As I took it from his hands, a chill brushed down my spine again and suddenly I was afraid to see what was behind his glasses.

"Go ahead and run," I told him, stepping back myself. There were pools of stagnant water on the ground. I wanted to look toward the light, toward the direction we came, but I didn
'
t want to turn away from him.

"Kaia," he reached out a hand as if to touch my face. I quickly intercepted it and held his wrist tightly.

"You don
'
t know me! Now run along before I change my mind and decide to kill you." My pulse raced beneath my skin.