Chapter 52: Volume II: Chapter 19: And into the Fire

“Well, that was…” Will trailed off, unable to find a word that encompassed everything.

“Yeah,” Chleo agreed.

Will pulled on the harness still stubbornly hugging his shoulders. The flight had chafed more than he expected. Chleo looked up a playful glint in her eye.

“Nice landing. One of your top five.”

He laughed. “You try finding somewhere soft out here.” He stomped on the ground. “It’s all rock and sand.”

“Sure, blame the ground.” Her eyes crinkled with her smile. “I suppose it rose to meet you too fast, did it?”

“What can I say? I’m a catch.”

“Yes, you are,” she said kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you, Will.”

He shrugged, feeling blood rush to color his cheeks. “Do you think the ship is around here? We should probably check in on Mic before Tilly and the neons get back.”

Chleo turned to search their surroundings. Umbra truly was a wasteland. Will had yet to see anything growing other than moss. He flicked a rock with his toe, sending it skittering across the ground, a trail of dust in its wake.

“Mom,” Chleo muttered, drawing his attention back. She stood with her back to him speaking into her mother’s watch.

“Chleo…” His voice trailed, worry sneaking around the edges. Her shoulders tensed.

“I need to find her, Will.”

“What about Mic?”

She paused, everything about her freezing for one, two, three seconds. “He’ll be fine.”

“Chleo—”

“I need to find her,” she said, turning to meet his eyes. His heart tore, a spike of pain shooting down his spine as she refused to let a tear fall. “Mic said he could hide. He’ll be fine. I need to find her.”

“Ok.”

~*~*~

The compound sat in a crater. Will stared at the buildings blending into the moon’s landscape. Chleo snapped her mother’s watch closed beside him, the hands pointing directly ahead.

“She’s down there,” she said.

“I know.” He reached for her hand, watching the bustle below. Humans in lab coats ran from one building to another, a flurry of activity in a stale environment. He squinted against the sun wishing for his goggles. Its rays peaked over the horizon, only those in the crater sheltered from the light. “Can you tell which building?”

“According to the watch’s coordinates, that one,” she said, pointing to the smallest of the three tucked in the farthest corner.

“How do we get in? Something tells me the sentries aren’t going to let us just walk through.”

Chleo tapped the harness digging into her shoulders. “Fly in.” She shrugged.

“Do you really think a bunch of scientists didn’t think to protect against that?”

They didn’t. Will gaped as they touched down behind the building without a single alarm raised. Chleo turned back to him with a smirk.

“It’s a secret base that no one’s supposed to know about. They probably want to use their funds for experiments more than security.”

“Sure,” he said, watching her remove the plating for an industrial sized air vent. It seemed overkill for such a small building. “Probably.”

She ducked in first. He followed.

~*~*~

“Melody, my dear, tell me you have good news,” Johnson’s voice slithered by her ear and up her spine. She straightened, abandoning her microscope.

“Johnson,” she said letting her voice cut a warning, “to what do we owe the honor?”

“Your family, actually,” he said leaning against a desk. She blinked. Johnson didn’t lean. In all the years she’d known him, he stood, with perfect posture, for every occasion. Tension built behind her shoulders. “Perhaps you didn’t realize, that was an order.” He studied a fingernail. “Tell me you have good news.”

“What about my family?”

He looked up, eyes narrowed. She fought against a flinch, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Her lab partner tried to catch her attention, worry pinching her brow. Melody kept her eyes on Johnson.

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He stood. Walking to the nearest terminal, he punched in a command, tilting the monitor in her direction. Melody’s breath caught.

“Chleo, no,” she whispered. Her fingers pressed into her lips as she watched her daughter crawl by one of the compound’s security cameras. She bit her cheek. If Chleo was in the vents, then so was-

“Will,” her lab partner gasped as he crawled into view. Melody’s heart clenched.

“Yes.” Johnson smiled, ice cold and sharp. “They flew in a few minutes ago. Those two cause almost as much trouble as their parents. They certainly adopted your arrogance. At least the girl is useful.”

“Stay away from her,” Melody said, hands clenching until her knuckles stretched white.

Johnson laughed, short, soft, knowing. “Or what?” he asked. “You’ve created the perfect specimen. You and Jack should be proud.” He turned back to the monitor trailing a reverent finger over the image of her daughter.

Melody seethed. She met her lab partner’s eye. They needed to escape. No more failures. They would find a way… with the kids. Her friend nodded.

Oblivious, Johnson typed a command. Melody watched as the vents redirected and entered intruder mode. Anyone inside would crawl in circles until security arrived. She would know. She wrote the code.

“Rats in a maze.” Johnson smiled.

~*~*~

Will crawled forward, his knees aching. After what felt like a minor earthquake, they’d crawled for what felt like forever. “Are we getting closer?” he asked. The vents had to open somewhere.

Chleo studied her mother’s watch for what felt like the hundredth time. “I don’t… it looks like we’re spiraling.”

“You mean going in circles.” He groaned, a buzz tap-dancing across his spine. “Without an exit. No way forward. No way back.” He closed his eyes. “A trap.”

“It would seem that way…,” she tapped an anxious fingernail against the metal, “yes.”

He laughed, helpless, hopeless. “Of course.” He leaned his forehead against the cool steel. “You know the Book has a story about being trapped in a maze in Umbra. Maybe I should have paid a bit more attention.”

Chleo echoed him. “Something tells me the Neons wrote about a different Umbra.”

He shrugged. “Soro found her way out… so will we.” They knelt in silence, the space too small to sit or face each other.

“Will,” she said with a defeated sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

“Chleo,” he put a comforting hand on her ankle, “you never drag me anywhere. My place is by your side.”

“And mine is by yours.”

The vent rumbled, then jolted, tilting down. Without warning they pitched forward sliding until they spilled onto a sterile floor. Someone clapped, slow, precise. The color drained from Chleo’s face.

“How sweet,” the man said, the only black coat among white, his hands falling to his sides. Guards pointed stunners at them, the barrels buzzing with energy. One stepped forward with bolt cutters, clipping the harnesses from their shoulders. Will couldn’t stop the sigh of relief.

The man took a step closer to Chleo. Will shifted in front of her. “Chleo.” The man smiled. “How kind of you to return. I fear my research suffered in your absence.”

“Pity,” she said. The man let out a joyless laugh.

“Come along, then. There’s someone dying to see you.”

Will sent her a questioning look as they fell into step behind him, the guards leaving little other choice. “Johnson,” she mouthed in his direction. His blood ran cold.

They followed, the group’s footsteps echoing off the walls, artificial light glaring down at them, an artificial whisper breezing through the vents. A door slid open as they approached. Crossing the threshold, a new world exploded around them.

Viewing windows lined the corridor. Some occupants of the rooms beyond lay moaning on cots in spartan quarters, others stood against the glass watching their procession. Neons, humans, it didn’t matter, both occupied the cells, both glared at the group as they passed.

As they walked, the inmates deteriorated. Neons dulled. Humans paled. Some sprouted scales, others raged against the glass, against the walls, against anything in sight. Screams followed the group down the corridor and through the door at the end. When it slid closed behind him, Will swore he could still hear them.

The lab they entered held more tech than Will had seen in his entire life. He knew some from his mother’s lessons and others from Mrs. Mathews’s. Some he couldn’t begin to imagine what they were for.

“Remember, when I asked for good news and you refused to answer?” Johnson asked, speaking to a couple of lab coats farther ahead. “I had to go find some of my own.”

A guard grabbed Will’s arm, dragging him forward, another doing the same to Chleo beside him. They threw them in front of the lab coats. Will felt his eyes widen. His heart pounded. His throat closed. Mrs. Mathews stood in front of him, worry dancing through her eyes so similar to Mic’s, and beside her, he didn’t dare to dream, to hope.

“Mother,” the word fell from his mouth anyway.

His mother was standing in front of him… after all this time she was only a handful of steps away. She stepped forward a guard holding her back. A tear carved a trail down her cheek. “Will.”

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