The Energy Crusades (21 page)

Ajax

I woke up because Malik was nudging my foot. I opened one eye to find him standing at the foot of my sleeping bag. The sun had not yet risen and the room was draped in shadows. Kaia was still curled against me, with her head on my chest and her left hand clutching my necklace. I shouldn
'
t have done it, I shouldn
'
t have let her lie against me. I should have turned my back against her as I did back home, but I didn
'
t have the strength last night, especially after seeing all those images of her. I never wanted this and never thought for a single moment Kaia would have any sort of effect on me at all.

"Give her a chance," my mother had pleaded with me, while also informing me she would be holding me back.

Never
, I thought to myself, my heart hardening ag
ainst my mother
'
s words. I didn
'
t care what she thought about Kaia needing me to train her, or her belief that we would excel together. I already had excelled; I didn
'
t need Kaia Robi.

"Leave her brother," I insisted, my anger becoming too much for me to control.

"No," my mother
'
s voice was like steel. "Either you stay, or your brother stays. You are a fool if you can
'
t recognize this opportunity. It isn
'
t a punishment but a chance to accomplish even more."

I didn
'
t see it that way, yet I couldn
'
t bring myself to trade places with Cadmus. Why? It was a question I
'
d asked myself more times than I could count, but I had no answer, so I hardened my heart against Kaia, and used my anger as a shield she should have never been able to penetrate. Who was she to me? I hadn
'
t seen her in years and didn
'
t care we had once been friends. It was a long time ago and she
'
d left me then and I wouldn
'
t let it happen again.

And then she walked into my mother
'
s office that first day. My anger melted the moment I saw her, which only made me angrier. She almost ran to me, her happiness at seeing me spilling out of her for just a few seconds, and I almost lost control. Instinctively, I wanted to run to her too, but instead, I called all of my anger against her and pretended not to notice my happiness at seeing her face.

When my mother had her take off her glasses, my heart skipped a beat. Kaia would try to tell you her eyes weren
'
t really purple, but just a very deep blue, and that other people had violet eyes as well. Maybe they did. But Kaia
'
s eyes were not blue and not violet; they were purple — a shade so rich, so beautiful, they were startling to behold.

Malik stared down at me expectantly, but I didn
'
t want to wake her and have to let her go. I knew the exact weight of her body against mine, the feel of her relaxing against me as the tension left her body. I wanted to keep her with me. I wanted a lot of things when it came to her, but in the light of the day she would be an Athlete again and I would be an Unviable, and all the barriers between us would fall right back into place.

"Good
morning, Mr. First Place," Malik said quietly.

"Go away," I answered, as quietly as possible, but she heard my voice and began to stir. Kaia lifted her head and looked at me with those purple eyes, a color unlike any I
'
d ever seen. She was beautiful, even with her hair tousled about her head and her face puffy with sleep.

"Hello, Kaia," Malik grinned at her.

She sat up quickly, her cheeks coloring with embarrassment, then climbed out of her sleeping bag and headed straight for the bathroom, but not before we could get a glimpse of her long legs. My eyes lingered on the shape of her body and fell, as usual, to the cuff on her wrist. I wanted that cuff, I could feel it about my wrist even, but jewelry wasn
'
t something you could just give away, it was a symbol between families. If she gave it to me, it would be the same as her pledging herself to me and declaring a bond between our two families, something I wasn
'
t sure she would do. But if I tried to imagine her giving it to someone else, the idea seemed impossible. It belonged to me.

Malik held out his hand and I took it, hauling myself out of my sleeping bag. Everyone else was still asleep.

"Thinking about that cuff again?" Malik liked to pester me about it. He knew how I felt about the cuff, about the girl, and I didn
'
t answer him. He of all people understood what it meant to be an Unviable. How could I wish my genes on anyone, let alone Kaia? I wasn
'
t Cadmus after all; I didn
'
t look at life like a math problem and hope to bear as many children as possible in order to ensure some survivors. I didn
'
t look at Kaia and think, there
'
s a girl with the best possible genetics and want to mate with her because of them. No, my feelings were far more complicated.

"What are we going to do about Jason Paris?" Malik interrupted my thoughts when I ignored his first question.

"Besides kill him?" I felt rage at the mention of his name. He kissed her; it was all I could think about. I couldn
'
t erase the image of seeing her in the tunnel with her face pressed against his, his hands touching her. It should have been me.

"It should have been you," Malik answered my thoughts. "But you
'
re a fool, Ajax. If you can
'
t even think past someone kissing her, then how are you going to let her go when this is over? When we finish this Crusade? You better do something about it, or would you rather wait and see if she falls for Cadmus?"

I shook my head. She wasn
'
t going to do that. Cadmus is like the sun, she had said, but her heart hadn
'
t been moved by him. It hadn
'
t in the past and it wouldn
'
t now.

"She won
'
t," I was sure of it. Malik smiled and nodded in agreement.

"She won
'
t," he confirmed. "But what about Jason Paris?"

"Do you think he really looks like me?"

Malik thought about my question. "I don
'
t know. I mean, I know Kaia wouldn
'
t lie, but maybe she was seeing things?" He had his doubts too. What exactly had she seen? I should have never let her go alone.

I watched her emerge from the bathroom. She had her energy suit back on and her hair held back in a long braid. Her hair…she
'
d tell you the color was auburn, streaked with gold from hours in the sun. It was auburn, long and beautiful, but the streaks were like flames, fiery and unnatural. She kept it bound as if no one would notice. I noticed though; I always had. I
'
d tug at her braid and watch the strands fly loose, and the flames would shoot through it as her anger grew, and then she
'
d chase me and tug at my hair. It seemed like a lifetime ago and I brushed the memory away.

She went over to Caden first and knelt beside him, whispering in his ear as she shook him gently from his slumber. Caden lifted his head and sat up, the two of them becoming engrossed in a quiet conversation. It made my stomach hurt. I was jealous about her friendship with Caden. He told her I was
'
awful
'
and I wanted to hit him for it, but honestly, I was only mad at myself for it being true. I
'
d had words with him about it though and ordered him to shut his mouth about me, especially when it came to Kaia.

"I don
'
t think I will, Ajax," he told me, not backing off though I was sure I could crush him. He had no idea what kind of strength I possessed. "Treat her right or answer to me for it," he insisted, shutting his door in my face. Malik had to pull me away.

"She thinks of him like Tiergan," Malik had assured me on more than one occasion. Still, I didn
'
t like it.

Kaia woke up Balor and Tory next, prompting them to get ready for the day, and then she walked back to where Malik and I were standing.

"You look well rested," Malik ruffled her hair, "Almost as well rested as Ajax."

"So do you, Malik," she countered, ignoring his underlying tone. He walked away from us and went to Tory. He was crazy for Tory.

"Thank you for staying with me last night," Kaia said to me in her solemn voice. She leaned toward me slightly, as if maybe she would hug me, but she didn
'
t. She stopped before she actually touched me, keeping her hands clenched at her sides. I shoved my own into my pockets to keep from touching her.

"You okay?" I asked. It was all I could manage. There
'
d been so many images of her, of the plague, I was sure she was upset about it. I was upset about it. Who had been documenting her life? It had to be someone close to her. She shrugged her shoulders but said nothing else.

We turned our attention to the tasks we needed to accomplish for the day. Caden would begin trying to break into their cells and Balor would assist him. Tory and Malik would patrol the area while Caden and Balor worked, making sure they were not disturbed or attacked. Kaia and I would wait in a designated spot near the restored building, ready the moment Caden had control of their solar cells, to get inside.

"You think you can alter those cells?" I questioned.

"I can get into those cells," Caden answered. "I know exactly what Cadmus showed me."

Still, it took him three days. We were in the ruined city longer than any other team and my mother wanted us to return. The other teams had all returned, unsuccessful, but all having made contact with the Resistance. We wanted our chance for success and had to give Caden a little time.

If he could tap into their solar cells, we could find out exactly where they were transmitting from inside the building. Once we knew their location, Caden would jam their transmissions so they wouldn
'
t be able to transport away from us. Additionally, while the transmission was out, their solarized windows would go dark, at least for a few minutes. As it was, the windows provided a clear view of the outside, but if the transmission was cut off and they went dark, they would have no visibility of the exterior. Kaia and I would scale the building, break the glass, and get inside. We were counting on Caden to give us their exact coordinates so our intrusion would be a surprise.

"If the glass is solarized like we think, it will be hard to break, Ajax. Are you sure you can do it?" Balor wanted to know.

"I
'
ll break the glass and Kaia will fly in there first." I brushed off Balor
'
s concern. Kaia knew what to do and I wasn
'
t worried about her part or my ability to break the glass. My orb was a weapon and I could get it to do almost anything. It would shatter the glass no matter what they
'
d done to it.

For three long days Kaia and I sat huddled amidst the ruins of what might have been an old apartment building, now crumbled beyond all recognition.

"Well, Ajax, it
'
s not quite like the watering hole we got to swim at last time, but I guess it will do." I smiled at her as she surveyed the huge boulders of debris strewn here and there. The weeds were completely wild and had totally overtaken the ruined building. We had no trouble finding a spot to sit amongst the piles of rocks and overgrown vegetation. Our orbs circled the area and masked our presence. If the resisters looked down, or came near, the orbs would provide cover, and also warning should anything approach. We couldn
'
t risk being caught up in any interactions at the moment Caden got into the cells and needed to stay hidden.

"You don
'
t believe me, do you?" Kaia asked, once we
'
d settled in on the third day. We spent many, many long hours in silence, not wanting to attract any attention, but the tedium was getting to us. We began to talk more and more by the third day.

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I knew exactly what she meant. She gave me an exasperated look.

"You think I
'
m wrong about what he looks like?"

I gave her question some consideration before answering. I wanted to be honest with her.

"It
'
s not that, Kai. I just don
'
t know what you saw. I shouldn
'
t have let you go off alone." I didn
'
t plan on letting her out of my sights again.

"You
'
re going to see him soon. What will you say to me when you see him and he looks exactly like you?"

I laughed and shook my head at her. Stubborn! "What would you want me to say?"

"I want you to say,
'
Kaia, you were absolutely right, I
'
ll never doubt you again
'
."

Her eyes were all sorts of purple in the sunlight. It was hard to concentrate while looking into those eyes. Man, it was hard to be around her and not touch her.

"Really?" I asked, pulling my knees into my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs, while Kaia sat with her legs straight in front of her. "What will you say if he doesn
'
t?"

Her smile was full of confidence. She wasn
'
t worried about the possibility, but I still couldn
'
t imagine it. How could he look like me? It didn
'
t make any sense.