Chapter 56: Volume II: Chapter 23: Escape Part 1

Chleo stumbled down the hall, Will tucked under one arm and her mom under the other. Chleo found her. She couldn’t believe it. She actually found her… on a moon no one would admit was real, with experiments that shouldn’t exist. Experiments her mom helped perform. Experiments that left Chleo blind…

She let herself float in the void deciding to focus on the feeling of success rather than betrayal. Her mom didn’t have a choice, she tried to remind herself. Chleo found her. They were finally together.

Chleo’s feet tapped a comforting rhythm below her. The warmth from Will helped her focus. Time seemed to slow without sight. Three steps felt like ten. Walking the length of a room felt like a town block on Luna. She couldn’t tell how far they’d gone since the lab.

Still, Chleo trusted him and her mom to lead her. She squeezed the shoulders holding her up, Lexy’s shoes clicking on concrete in front of them. The echoes made it seem like they were in a smaller tunnel than the main area. It reminded her of the passages Will showed them in his uncle’s castle.

“Almost there,” her mom muttered against her temple. She fought the urge to lean into it knowing it would interrupt the pace they’d worked to coordinate.

Chleo heard a door slide open. A small breeze tickled her cheek as they entered.

“Whoa,” Will breathed.

“What is it?” Chleo asked, frustrated she couldn’t see.

Will cleared his throat as her mom slipped out from under her arm. She curled closer to him.

“It’s the blocker,” he answered.

Chleo scrunched her eyes, confused. “You’ve seen a blocker before.”

“Yes, but this one is…. It’s one of the big ones, maybe a century, or two, old.”

“What?” she asked trying to force her eyes to see it. “Oh, come on! Of all the times to… I’d kill to get my hands on a blocker older than class XCIX. Does it look like it’s in that range?”

“It’s a class XIII,” her mom said, voice drifting from a few meters away.

“That early?” she asked breathless, excitement helping her forget their circumstances. Her hands twitched to take it apart. “Is it really as big as the books say?”

“It looks bigger,” Will said. She groaned, cursing Johnson and his stupid serum.

“Are they turning it off?”

“We’re blowing it up,” Will’s mother, the queen… her highness? answered. How was she supposed to address her?

“The charges are almost set,” Will added.

“Seems almost a crime.” There were only a handful left according to her history books and all on loan to museums on Terra. She likely would never get another chance to pick one for parts.

“It is, actually,” her mom said. “We’re destroying government property.” Chleo heard her chuckle. “Let’s see how Johnson explains this one to the Royals.”

“Speaking of,” Will asked, voice turning dark, “where is he? I figured we’d run into a few guards, at least.”

Chleo heard a few more charges clip into place, magnets hitting metal.

“I sent a small but effective command to the barrack doors,” her mom said. Chleo could hear the smirk. “No one is getting out until I say. Only the night guard was patrolling.” Chleo heard her pause, the fabric of her clothes stilling. “I’m not actually sure where they’re off to.”

“They’re not here,” the queen said, voice moving closer to Chleo and Will. “That’s all that matters. Ready?”

Chleo felt something shift in the void… three things. Nods?

“Three, two.” Chleo’s mom moved under her arm. “One.” A series of small pops flooded the room. Metal groaned, then steadied.

“Did it work?” she asked. Chleo’s mom paused, fiddling with something.

“No, we’ll need to blow the backups.”

“But that’ll-” the queen started.

“I know, but there’s nothing for it. He must have rerouted the cables for emergencies. I was worried he might.”

Chleo felt a shift in the void again, a tickle on the back of her neck. She turned to look out of habit.

“What is it?” Will asked. She felt his eyes on her.

“Nothing.” She sighed. “Just imagining things.”

“You could have mentioned,” the queen complained to Chleo’s mom, voice drifting farther away. “Are you sure the detonator wire will give us enough distance from the blast site?”

“It’ll have-” The door slid open, the sound cutting through the room. Her mom faltered. “To,” she finished. Did the guards find them?

“Well, look at this, Jones,” a voice said moving too close too fast. “Guess it’s our lucky day.”

Jones. Where had she heard that name?

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Someone ripped her away from Will and her mom. A surprised protest fell from her lips as rough hands pushed her from one person to another. She couldn’t tell how many, at least three, maybe. Panic stole her breath, adrenaline spiking down her spine. Her watch thumped against her chest, a weight she spent hours practicing, useless with one plunge of a syringe.

Chleo felt a shift in the void, fast and sharp. She jerked away, unable to pinpoint the disturbance. Something buzzed near her head. Her captor grunted annoyed.

“Kid’s got a hornet,” he growled. She heard something tink against the floor a few times before it rolled away. Will whistled and the shift was back moving the opposite way.

“Will?” she asked, not trusting her senses. No one stood after a hornet sting. She must have misunderstood.

The people around her shifted. She heard the queen asking Will how he earned a hornet, before remembering herself and demanding to hear the story later.

“I’m here,” Will said, voice tense. His tone gave him away. “We’ll figure something out, Chleo.”

She was right. The hornet didn’t work. Who had her… What had her?

“What do you want?” She heard her mom ask. No one moved. Chleo tried to remember what weapons they had. The air buzzed. Stunners. Theirs or ours?

Someone laughed, the sound chilling the room. “‘What do we want,’ she asks.” The man paused. “A few of your friend’s experiments want to discuss their findings.” Chleo felt him turn toward someone else. The queen? “I’m sure you’ll find it most… disagreeable,” he continued in his best Johnson impression.

“Fine,” the queen said, not pausing to think. No. Chleo struggled against the hand that held her. Will just got her back. “Let the girl go, and I’ll come with you.”

“You think you’re in a position to negotiate?” he spat.

“I read your file, Jones,” Chleo’s mom cut in. “Arrested for disturbing the peace at nine, in and out for aiding and abetting Neons through your teens until you hit hard time at twenty. You claimed self defense.”

“You know my rap sheet, congrats.”

“I know the others’, too, the ones who escaped with you. I think you’re a good guy, Jones. Someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time… do you know who you’re helping?”

Jones didn’t answer. The hand on Chleo’s arm tightened and she wondered if the owner was one of the people her mom was talking about. She strained away, but it kept her in place. Smooth, scaly, she remembered where she heard the name Jones.

“Do you?” Jones asked, voice gruff with disgust. “Someone important decides to experiment on prisoners and all of a sudden they send the perfect specimen. Over and over your little compound gets the exact blood type, the exact height, weight, family freaking history the Doc wants. Do you really think there are that many hardened criminals that fit the bill? The paperwork is fiction.”

“Not all of it,” her mom said. “She’s just a girl. Jones, please.”

“Funny, your concern,” Jone’s said, voice sliding closer. Chleo felt the air shift in front of her. She flinched back as a breeze hit her face. “When a couple days in your care cost the kid her sight.”

Chleo heard fabric rustle to her right. “Enough, the doc is coming with us, her and the girl, whether we leave the rest of you in one piece on the way out is up to you.”

The buzzing from stunners powered down. No. They were giving in. Blood pounded in Chleo’s ears.

“Chleo,” Will’s voice broke through the room, “no more than a meter.”

She took a steadying breath. Right. She reached for the weight at her chest.

Her watch jumped to life in her hand, whipping back over her shoulder. Someone screamed. Something warm splashed her back as scaly hands slid from her waist. Training took over.

Chleo cut the length at a meter, using sound and muscle memory as a guide. She slung the flying blades forward. The scream stopped as she crouched the kite buzzing over her head. Feeling it pull tight, she started a blind spiral.

The void shifted around her matching the sounds of bodies dropping or diving out of the way.

“We’re here,” Will shouted.

She used it as a reference to stumble toward safety. The kite trailed behind her, zipping in a random pattern to discourage Jone’s and his crew from following. She could only hope it would work.

A shift in the void. She ducked. Too late. Pain sprung from her temple, head ringing and rolling. She tumbled back into the void, drifting and floating, direction a distant memory. Her watch wrenched from her hand. Through a fog, she heard it clatter against something. The ceiling? Was that up?

The ground pushed against her back and head. Gravity pulled her down. Scaly hands pried her up. She kicked out almost sliding away, but they pulled her tight.

Other struggles came into focus, stunners charging and blasting. Yelps and grunts echoed. She heard her mom fall nearby, Will and Lexy sounding farther away near the back wall.

“Stop,” Jones’s voice shouted by her ear. His hands tightened on her arms pulling them behind her back. He wasn’t giving her any more chances to grab something from another pocket.

The struggles froze, sound shrinking until only the wheezing from the destroyed blocker and her clanking kite clicked through the room. Jones’s chest heaved against her back, as he caught his breath.

“That’s enough,” he snarled. “Grab the doctor and shoot the others.”

“No.” The word ripped from Chloe’s throat. She fought against his hold, pulling forward then slamming her head back. A string twanged. Wood groaned. She wiggled and wrenched. Jones’s hands held, vices against her skin.

She felt a shift in the void in the distance. The arrow? No. It was too far and too slow.

The door slid open. The void… sparked. Red glowed, burning her senses. Gradually, it focused. Jones whipped her around as he spun to look. She didn’t need to face the light to sense the familiar figure.

“Er, hi,” it said. Chleo almost sobbed in relief. Merk’s voice grew distant as she watched half of his glowing figure turn back and disappear into the passage. “Found them.”

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