Cranston messed with the insides of an orange operating box at the back of the elevator. “No, sir,” he said to into his comm. “We were on the lift when it went dark.”

  Evan feared the implications. “How did the Feds find the base?”

  Rowic flicked through his tablet. “I don’t think they did, yet. What I’m seeing are friendly signatures making their way here. Must be refugees from New Avalon.”

  Nyla hissed, “Idiots.”

  “Then what’s up with the power?”

  Rowic said, “It’s a defense for when Feds are closing in, makes sure they can’t track the huge power signatures the base gives off. Normally we’re more prepared for this sort of thing, but Feds haven’t made a push like this on a sympathizer town in a while.”

  Evan couldn’t help but wonder if this was another link in the chain of events he started.

  “Blink,” Cranston said, still fiddling with the lift controls, “grab Evan and Nyla and get to Addy.”

  “I can get us all,” Blink argued.

  “No, I don’t want you pushing yourself. Go. We don’t have time.”

  She nodded and hugged Twitch goodbye before laying a hand on Evan and Nyla. The world spun in a shower of light, and then the three of them were in front of Ad Astra in the hanger bay.

  They navigated a sea of black and red shadows and up the airship’s ramp. Vihn was already onboard, calling out orders through the cockpit radio, while a stream of radio chatter filled the cabin.

  “Picking up ten, no twenty-”

  “Help us!”

  “Are there purifiers?” Vihn asked.

  “Help -!”

  “Not so far.”

  “All teams, who’s-”

  Ka-ka-ka-ka.

  “This way!”

  “Oh, god. They’re leading them straight to the mountain.”

  “Where are all the teams? We can’t let them find the base. The Feds will break the illusion barrier if they get too close.”

  Vihn flipped a toggle on the ceiling that initiated the purr of the ship’s engines. “This is the leader of Phoenix One. Drive the refugees and Feds into the ruins. Focus on saving our people.”

  “The ruins? But-”

  “That’s an order,” came a resolute voice that sounded like Andrea’s.

  “Ye-Yes, madame Ark. All squads, divert the engagement line toward the ruins-”

  Vihn snapped a toggle, killing the radio chatter, and turned around. “Where’s everyone else?”

  Blink said, “They’re still stuck on the lift. Cranston said to go ahead.”

  Vihn sighed. “Fine. Gear up, we’re heading into it.”

  Nyla and Blink nodded and ran out of the room.

  This is really happening. Evan hadn’t had much time to think about what was going on, driven by action. Actively fighting Feds? Was he ready for that?

  “They killed your friend. Remember that,” Vihn said.

  “He’s not dead.” Evan scowled.

  “He could be. They’ll kill us, that’s their purpose, and they’ll kill a lot more people tonight. They’ll kill you if they get the chance. Remember that kid. They look human, sound human, show human emotions too – but when they see you, they see it. Something to be exterminated. Don’t give them that chance.”

  “I’m not a murderer.”

  Vihn spoke evenly, “Tell that to the people you’ve already killed.”

  “Screw you.” He had never planned to hurt someone; they were all accidents. No… He had killed on purpose. He’d brought the helicopter down on those armored cars back in Hazard Station to escape. He did it to survive. It had been the right thing… But it would have never happened if he’d just listened to his father and waited. But if he’d listened, would his father have tried to save Ken? Did he really turn Ken in to save Evan? The questions were a torrent that swept over Evan, and if he didn’t gain his footing soon, he’d drown. So, he pushed it all down again. There’d be time to deal with this again, assuming he survived the next few moments.

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  The ship rocked as the ramp closed.

  Vihn said, “You might think you’re doing the right thing by sparing one of them, but they’ll just use your charity as a second chance to kill someone else.”

  Evan didn’t have the words to rebuttal because he believed some part of that. He’d yet to see the Feds show mercy. Except, Cranston had been one of them before joining the rebels. If one man could be shown forgiveness and be redeemed, then there had to be another one worthy of it out there somewhere. Regardless, if Evan could help it, he wasn’t going to kill anyone. Not anymore. He wasn’t a monster. He’d prove he wasn’t. He’d save anyone he could. He took a deep breath, nodded to Vihn, and left the cockpit. Evan stumbled through the shaking hallway to the main deck as Ad Astra ascended.

  Blink handed Evan a black backpack that was filled with supplies. He pulled out an earpiece, a smartwatch, a belt with metal rope cord, a medical kit, a folding knife with several odd grooves and notches, a pair of black framed glasses, and a holster with a handgun and two spare mags.

  Evan took out the weapon, examining its slick frame, switches, trigger, and deadly barrel. “I’ve never used one of these before.”

  “Sheesh,” Nyla said, “he’s going to get us killed.” She pulled back the slide of her own gun and strapped it to her belt.

  Blink rolled her eyes at Nyla, and offered a hand to Evan. “I can show you.”

  He shook his head, “It’s fine. I don’t need it.”

  She bit her lip. “Evan…”

  “I won’t use it. I just want to focus on helping people. If I need to defend myself, I can use my powers.” He handed it back to her.

  She took it, her face seeming less than convinced, but she broke into a smile. “Me too.” She took her gun and Evan’s and hid them in a container next to other packs of gear.

  “I… If something happens to you because of that, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

  She scoffed. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions, dad. You’re right, we’re here to save people first.”

  Her resolve continued to impress him, and a new confidence filled him knowing he wouldn’t be alone in his overtly romanticized attempt to save people without violence. Well, if all turned out successful, maybe he’d commit to a non-violent trend… and if it failed, he might not have to burden his conscience for much longer.

  Evan put the rest of the gear on. His ear rang with the voices of the team.

  “Running stealth program, Fed sensors should struggle with that,” Rowic said over his ear device.

  Cranston was next. “Andrea sent Daniel, Twitch, and me to corral the runners in zone twelve.”

  “Copy,” Vihn said. He shouted from the cockpit, “Get ready, you three. We’re heading to city central. I’m going to drop low enough for you to jump.”

  Evan shouted, “Can’t this thing hover close to a building for us to step out?”

  “I can’t risk staying still. They have interceptor drones and gunships; we’d be too vulnerable hovering.”

  “Got it,” Blink flashed a thumbs up. “I’ll port us there.”

  “I don’t mean your powers, I mean jump.”

  The ramp whined as it lowered, welcoming in the freezing cold.

  Vihn switched to the comms. “We have to get as many people into our ship as possible, but you won’t be able to do that if you burn out too quick. Jump off the ramp when I say so, holding on to Evan and Nyla, and wait until the last moment to port. Just make sure to land somewhere soft.”

  The concept circled in Blink’s eyes. She nodded, a confident smirk on her lips. “Aye, aye Cap’n.”

  Nyla smacked her hands together, “órale!”

  The distance from the ship to the group stole Evan’s nerves from him.

  The city of broken towers and tangled overgrowth sprawled out like a miniature set, wrapped by the embrace of a blood orange sky. The mountains and false forest hung to the right, and to the left was a field of death.

  Dozens of gunships and drones peppered the earth with gunfire where hundreds of silhouetted people ran and fell. Behind them was a brigade of armored cars. At the edge of the city, rockets and machine guns fired back at the pursuing Federation forces. Several gunships and armored cars burst into fiery red smoke.

  “Making our descent,” Vihn said.

  “This is insane.” Evan stared out at the horror of war as the ship lowered and the silhouettes below become small people, which became clear bodies of dying and fearful humans. “They’re killing them all.”

  Blink beckoned him closer to the ramp. “Hey, we’re going to save those people. That’s what we do. We’re not going to let anymore innocents die, right?”

  The hope that she exuberated plucked some deep courage out of him that he didn’t know was there, and he reached out for Blink’s hand and prepared to do something he never dreamt he’d do before; get involved.

  “Get ready, in three.”

  Nyla joined them as they stood at the back of the ramp, Blink in the center.

  The tallest structures of the city pulled up like whales bursting out of the sea. Their windows were all shattered holes, with snaking tendrils of plants slithering out of them.

  “Two.”

  Lord, don’t let me die.

  “Now!”

  The three of them leapt from the safety of a perfectly good airship out into the sky, the rubble and cratered roads only meters away. Before they could splat, Blink teleported them a meter higher, resetting their position above a bomb crater that was flooded with water. Splash!

  Evan thrashed to the surface of the crater lake and pulled himself onto the street. Mossy water sloshed across the asphalt as he crawled. The cool air leached his body’s warmth from him.

  “Woohoo!” Blink cheered, pulling herself on to the street with Nyla, water whipping off her like a dog getting out of a bath.

  Evan envied her enduring sense of adventure.

  “You make it?” Vihn asked over the commlink.

  Blink waved to Ad Astra as it passed back over them. “Yep.”

  “Good. There’s a mob heading your way. Blink, bring them up to me as I pass over this building, Nyla and Evan, hold off any Feds.”

  The ship pivoted for another pass.

  Cries echoed down the streets, met with gunfire, thuds, and other horrifying noises.

  “Let’s go.” Nyla jumped to her feet and ran toward the sounds; Blink quick after her.

  Ok… don’t die, don’t kill, don’t get other people killed… “I can do this,” Evan said, with faith bleeding through his veins. He hurried after them, the air like ice against his dripping clothes.

  Nature had grown like a parasite out of this city’s carcass, the cars overtaken by briar bushes, and street cables strangled by tree vines. Creatures scattered across the road: birds, rabbits, snakes, and clusters of insects. A sickening smoky smell masked it all, cadenced by the cracking and popping of nearing gunfire.

  To be so close to destruction again, and willingly so, Evan wondered when his need to test his luck would finally lead to his death.

  A scream stopped the team. They backed up against a wall and watched as a dozen refugees fled down an intersecting road.

  Crack.

  One of them, a shorter person that Evan told himself wasn’t a child, rolled to the ground still holding on to a man’s hand. He dropped to tug the boy up, but the body didn’t move.

  Crack.

  There they both lay.

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