The Lost Code (29 page)

Obviously real lightning will work if you can get near it
, said Lük,
though that can be tricky. What’s the weather like where you are?

Well, it’s kinda always sunny where I am.

Ah, right. Then for now just worry about using the thermal and the sails. They should be sufficient.
He soared over and joined the line.

I pushed back to reality and reached into the compartment for a second sail. I untied the first one. Our forward speed slowed, but we were still rising from the balloon. I attached the two sails side by side off the mast, each angled off-center. Then I took a line in each hand. When the sails caught full, I practiced changing the tension, testing the interplay between the two. Suddenly the ship was diving and turning, sweeping back and forth in long arcs that made my stomach drop.

“Wooo!” Lilly shouted.

I smiled. There was a feeling of freedom in these movements. And unlike in the past, I had no fear of how high we were. This was like swimming below the surface, fluid, only even more so. Lakes had boundaries, but the sky had none. Well, except this sky.

“Ha! See those?” Leech was pointing down over the side of the craft.

We looked and saw the summit of Mount Aasgard a couple hundred meters below us.

“The cliffs?” said Lilly.

“No, the lines!” Leech made up-and-down motions with his hand.

“You mean the Viking etchings?” I could see that those lines on the cliffs were really straight when seen from above, and ran toward each other, like they were making an arrow. They came nearly to a point at the inside of the ledge Lilly and I had been on. Above that, there was another etching on the very top ledge, higher than where we’d been. It was a crude version of the same symbol I’d seen etched in the Camp Aasgard sign and the tunnel leading to the temple.

“Not Viking!” called Leech. He looked back with an actual smile. “Atlantean! Us! Those mark a ley line! They show the bearing we’ll take to the next marker!”

“And you know what all that stuff you just said means?”

“Totally.” Leech pulled his sketchbook and pen from the pocket of his jeans and began sketching furiously.

“Okay, then we just have to get out of here.” I looked up. We were even with the lowest SafeSun banks. The triangular pattern of the roof panels was clearly visible. “We need to call Aaron.”

“Aaron? In the Eye?” asked Leech.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s on our side.”

“Our side . . . ,” said Leech skeptically. “You sure about that, Tur—”

“Stop! Not Turtle. It’s going to be Owen from now on.”

Leech nodded. “Okay then.” He looked away, and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing about being with me as I had about him.

Lilly dug Paul’s phone from her pocket. “How do I get in touch with him?”

“That I can do,” said Leech. He took the phone and started tapping quickly. “Paul let me use this a bunch. . . .” The phone started to beep. “Yeah,” Leech said into it, “need to talk to Aaron. Tell him it’s
Owen
and company.”

I guided the craft into a wide, banking turn and started tacking to the southwest. We were passing over the EdenWest city itself now. Down below the haze of atmosphere, I could see the building tops, the blinking neon SensaStreets, the parks and little tram cars buzzing along.

“Owen!” Aaron’s voice blurted from the phone. “What are you doing out—Or in, I guess . . . in some kind of ship. Are you
flying
?”

“Yeah,” I said as Leech held the phone toward me. “Listen!” I shouted over the flapping of sails and wind. “We need you to open one of those emergency vents! The ones I saw you open that day when—”

“Yeah, I know the ones you mean. Um . . .” Aaron rubbed his hand over his mouth, then up through his hair. “Here’s the thing: How big is that craft of yours?”

“I think it will fit,” I said.

“No, not that.” He glanced around. “I mean, as in, do you have room for one more passenger? If I open a vent, there is going to be no way they
don’t
know it was me that did it. So, unless I leave with you, I’m going to be very dead.”

“There’s room,” I said. “But how are we going to get you?”

“Okay, can you see the Eye from where you are?”

I strained to look up and behind us. “Yeah.”

“On the southwest side there’s a door. Catwalk out, the one with no tram. You see it?”

“Yeah.”

“You meet me there. I can control the Eden systems remotely once I’m on board. You pick me up, and we all soar to freedom. Sound good?”

“We’re on our way.” I was already turning the craft, the sails luffing, now catching the wind again. We flew back toward the Eye, still rising.

I took the sails in one hand and reached down to the heat cell. There were no buttons or levers on it. Just that nozzle, a blue-orange flame above it. There had to be a way to adjust the strength of the flame. I touched the clay exterior and found that it was cool. I slid my hand up, closer to the copper: still cool. Touched the copper with my finger. It was cool, too, somehow. I clasped it with two fingers and twisted. Counterclockwise lowered the flame. The hiss of the jet quieted and we rose more slowly.

“I don’t think we want to slow down,” said Lilly.

“Why?” I asked.

She pointed off the starboard side. “I guess it was only a matter of time before they showed up.”

The two hover copters were still distant, but speeding toward us.

I spun the nozzle. We surged upward, but that made the wind harder to control, and we swung back and forth. Up near that catwalk and the ceiling, we’d need to be more precise.

We were rising past the giant antenna that hung down below the Eye, its thorny sides threatening to pop the balloon with each wind gust. I made a slow upward spiral, keeping my distance. Up in the Eye, I could see faces in the lower ring of windows, fingers pointing at us, getting others’ attention.

The air was starting to swirl unpredictably as we met the heat that rose naturally from below and billowed against the top of the roof. The craft swayed and bounced.

“Whoa!” said Leech, getting tossed around.

“Doing the best I can!” I snapped.

I could hear the hum of the copters now.

“Hey there!” The shout came from above. We looked up to see Aaron out on the metal catwalk, maybe twenty meters above, closing the door behind him. He had a bag over his shoulder, a jacket tied to his waist, large sunglasses on.

“What does he think this is, a vacation?” asked Lilly.

“Here,” I handed Leech the sail lines and opened a compartment. I found another rope, stepped up beside Lilly, and tied it to a copper ring on the bow. “Okay, when we get close, throw him this.”

I took the lines back from Leech. “This is going to have to be fast,” he said, watching the copters close on us.

We lifted to parallel with the catwalk. I turned the nozzle down to barely a flame. We rose another couple feet and hovered, swinging back and forth. The balloon whined, its fabric rubbing against metal beams of the roof.

“Here!” Lilly threw the rope. Aaron jumped to catch it. He pulled us in. I eyed the superstructure of the catwalk, making sure the balloon didn’t snag. It was going to be tight.

Aaron leaned over the railing. He reached out and grabbed the bow of the craft. “No steps or anything?” he asked, looking at the dizzying drop.

“Throw your bag over!” Lilly called.

“Right.” Aaron slipped off his bag and tossed it over. Lilly grabbed it and threw it to Leech. “Careful!” shouted Aaron. “My remote pad is in there! That’s our ticket out!”

“Just hurry up and jump in here,” I said.

“Faster,” said Leech, watching the copters closing.

Aaron reached out, but a gust of air shoved us to the side. I pulled on the sails to right us.

“I’ll tie this rope to the railing!” said Aaron. “Then we can cut it once I’m on.”

“Okay,” I said.

Aaron knotted the rope, then leaned back out. He grabbed the swaying bow, but lost it again. “Can I get a hand?” he shouted.

“Ugh!” Lilly grabbed the mast and leaned far out of the craft. Another gust made us sway. She got a hold of the catwalk railing, her whole body stretching out over space. My stomach lurched at seeing her like that. “Come on!” she barked at Aaron, holding out her hand.

“Okay, okay, okay . . .” Aaron gritted his teeth and took Lilly’s hand—

Then grabbed her braid with his other hand and yanked her off the craft.

“Hey!”

Aaron fell back, dragging Lilly onto the catwalk. The door slapped open. Paul burst out, his glasses back on, flanked by two guards. He grabbed Lilly and pulled her to her feet.

“Lilly!” I shouted.

Paul had her.

“Sorry about that!” said Aaron, grinning.

I saw it instantly now, and felt like an idiot. Aaron had set us up, even helped Dr. Maria to make it seem real, but it was all an act. Just another lie to trap us, a backup plan in case we escaped the temple.

“That’s enough, Owen!” said Paul. “Now, I have
her
, so bring that craft down to the Aquinara and we’ll pick up where we left off.”

The craft bobbed up against the scaffolding. I yanked on the sails but also took a step toward the bow and had no idea what to do except to yell, “No, let her go!” Except inside I felt myself deflating. This was hopeless.

And Paul knew it, too. He laughed. “Absolutely not! You and Carey belong with me, Owen! We were meant to do this together!”

“Go to hell!” Leech suddenly shouted, his voice thick with hate.

Paul just ignored him. “Owen, if you care about Miss Ishani, and you want to see her safe . . . come down!”

“No!” Lilly called. Paul tried to cover her mouth, but she struggled against him. “Owen, go! Leave!”

I stared at her. There was no way that was happening. It was over.

“Yes, Owen, go! Now!”

“Lilly—,” I started, about to tell her it was pointless, but she cut me off.

Lilly’s eyes were red, wild, tear-filled. “I lied!”

“What?”

She kept struggling, grabbing the catwalk railing and pulling free of Paul and the guards for another moment. “I lied about the siren! I never saw it! I just wanted to go with you! I’m
not
the other Atlantean! Now go!”

I THOUGHT, NO, EXCEPT, I KNEW IT WAS TRUE THE
moment she said it. I remembered her being quiet in so many moments when we’d talked about being Atlanteans . . . and how she hadn’t followed me that night that I first swam after the siren. And I wondered if, in a way, I’d known this all along, but had been ignoring it. Because if Lilly was an Atlantean, then we
had
to be together. It was destiny. But if she wasn’t . . .

“You heard her!” Leech hissed at me. “Let’s go! We can still outrun those copters.”

I looked at Lilly, struggling against Paul, and felt frozen. Lilly . . . my Lilly.
She lied to me
. But I didn’t care. Did I? She’d lied so she could come with me. I never would have made it this far without her. How could I face whatever came next? No. I wasn’t leaving her now. No way.

But Paul had her. And the copters were hovering below. There had to be something. . . .

“Tick tock, Owen!” Paul called.

I looked down at the craft. Thought back to the training memory, to Lük showing me the features, the mercury vortex and the ships shooting off into the distance. How had they done that? That’s right. . . .

I glanced at Aaron’s bag. “Hold on to that,” I said quietly to Leech. Then I looked up at the catwalk.

“Okay, fine,” I said to Paul. “I’m turning off the heat cell, and then we can lower down.”

Paul smiled. “Good.”

I reached forward and flicked off the nozzle. The flame died out. The balloon still held us in position. It would be slow to cool. I bent over, out of Paul’s view, and reached for the knife tucked in the top of Lilly’s bag. Then, I took Lilly’s bag and Dr. Maria’s backpack and stuffed them into a compartment. When I stood, I shouted to Paul, “Okay!”

I caught Lilly’s eye, then glanced at Aaron. Then back to Lilly, trying to point to him with my eyes, so that she’d understand.

Then I stared at her hard and shouted, “Tandem!” and hoped she knew what to do.

I swung the knife as hard as I could at the lines connecting the thermal balloon.

“Owen, what—?” Paul shouted.

The knife hit the first line, snapped it clean, and nicked the second. It unraveled then tore, and the third line popped from all the weight. The balloon leaped free, bouncing up against the ceiling.

And we started to fall.

But the line was still attached to the catwalk, and as we dropped it caught, jerking the entire craft and making us swing to vertical, the bow of the craft pointing straight up. I gripped the sail lines as tight as I could, and saw Leech hanging on to the edge of the craft as our feet left the floor and we hung in space, the lake so very far below.

The force of the craft yanking on the railing made the catwalk buckle, not much, but enough for Paul and Lilly to lose their footing. Lilly slammed an elbow into his stomach and jerked free of the other guards. She lunged, grabbed Aaron by his arm and looked down at me. Our eyes locked.

“Hey, what—,” Aaron began.

“Come on!” Lilly jumped, dragging Aaron over the edge with her.

She hit the right sail, and her arms slammed against the sideways mast. She slid over it and for a second I thought she might fall right by, but she fell against me, and I grabbed her with my free arm, my other gripping the sail lines and feeling like my shoulder socket would tear apart.

“Bah!” Aaron slammed against the bow of the boat and toppled over.

“Grab him!” I shouted to Leech. He stuck out an arm and pinned Aaron against the mast.

“You got me?” I said to Lilly, and felt her arms wrap around my torso.

“Yeah!”

There was a blistering snap from above, as the line holding us to the catwalk frayed and broke.

We plummeted toward the lake. Someone screamed. Maybe all of us.

The craft righted itself and for a moment we found ourselves level. Lilly slid off me and I grabbed the sail lines, trying to hold us steady. I jammed my feet against the rudder, but it didn’t help. We started to pitch forward, but the sails caught, billowing back at us, and keeping us from nosing straight down. Still, we were falling fast toward the glistening water.

“Aaron!” I called over the wind. “You need to fire the deionization!”

“What?” He looked up at me from the floor of the craft like I was speaking another language.

“Set it off or we die!” I screamed.

Aaron’s confused look stayed on me for another half second, then he glanced over the edge of the craft and his eyes got wide and he seemed to get it. “My bag!” he shouted.

Leech shoved it into his chest.

Aaron fumbled with the clips, his fingers shaking.

“Faster!” Lilly snapped.

Wind crushed against our faces.

Aaron got the bag open and slid out his computer pad. He slapped his finger at it. “Stupid password!” he muttered to himself.

“Shut up and do it!” Leech barked.

“I am, I am!”

I glanced from him to the sight of water growing larger. I could feel fear starting to paralyze me. We were all going to die, killed on impact. I’d miscalculated, or been an idiot to even try to time this—

“Okay . . . got it!” said Aaron.

There was a hum and a momentary feeling of energy tickling our skin, then a brilliant flash from above us. The huge antenna discharged with an explosive crack of electricity. My body shuddered in the current, almost like my bones were heating up from the inside out. There was a wicked hissing sound as the lightning, instead of leaping down to its grounding tower far below, was attracted to the nearest metal object: the mast of the craft.

The mast lit up, momentarily glowing hot white, and then there was a flash of blinding blue, and a whirring of motion inside the triangular metal unit. The ceramic heat cell exploded, shards flying everywhere. Shrapnel sliced my cheek but I barely noticed. I was scrambling forward to see inside the black unit. There was a circular hole in its center, and inside, blue light swirled like liquid. There was a high-pitched hum as the light spun faster, the ship vibrating like it might break apart.

Still we hurtled toward the water.

I closed my eyes, traveled inward, found the memory. Lük was distant, in line for his own lightning charge.
How do I fly it?
I shouted to him.

Use the sails to steer. The pedal rudder will apply electromagnetic charge. You’ll learn to feel the repulsion of gravity over time.

I have about ten seconds
, I said, and swept forward to my senses, saw the lake rushing at us. I put my feet on the rudder, pulled in on the sails, heard the engine whirring faster, felt it starting to slow our fall. We began to arc, leveling, slowly leveling, but we were going so fast, the lake getting closer. Closer. Too close.

“Now!” said Lilly.

“I know!” I pulled harder, jammed my feet against the pedals. We leveled more, finally almost horizontal. I could see the individual waves below.

And we flattened out. Wind caught the sails and yanked us forward. The bottom of the craft skimmed the surface. I screamed. We all did as the craft slipped along, racing above the water at incredible speed.

“Whoa!” Leech shouted.

I turned to Lilly, exhaling hard and meeting her eyes.

“Nice work,” she said, her gaze still wide.

I nodded. Then thought about what had to happen next. I pressed the pedals, pulled the lines, and we arced up, rising away from the water and shooting ahead. When we were about twenty meters above the surface, I leveled off. “Can you hold these lines for a minute?” I asked Lilly. “And put your feet just like mine on the pedals.”

I slid over and let her take my seat. “Like this?” she said.

“That should work.”

“What are you going to do?”

I didn’t answer, but turned and lunged at Aaron. He was leaning out over the edge, gazing at the water, his pad clutched tight to his chest.

“Hey, what—?” he started.

I grabbed him by his shirt collar and yanked him to his feet, pushing him out over the side of the craft. “Now open the vent!”

“Come on—”

“Open the vent or I throw you out!” I shouted, spit flying in his face.

Aaron looked down at the waves. We were high enough for a painful impact. “Okay, okay, fine, sheesh.”

I let go and Aaron slumped down and tapped at his pad. “Here we go . . . and . . .” He looked up. “There.”

I saw the giant triangle sliding open in the roof, far in the distance. I nodded to Aaron. “Good.”

“So, okay, now what?” he said, panting. “I helped you guys out just now, you know? Discharging that lightning, opening the vent—that should be payback for everything: So, you’re gonna let me go, right?”

I felt my jaw clench. “Yeah,” I said, and shoved him over the side.

“Whoa,” said Leech. “Dude.” He sounded maybe impressed.

Aaron screamed as he fell, and I watched to see him righting his body and hitting the water feetfirst. He disappeared, then his head popped up, arms thrashing. Alive. That was good, except in the moment I’d pushed him, I’d felt like I didn’t care. If Aaron had died, that still wouldn’t have evened the score, but I didn’t want to think like that. If he had broken a few bones, though, that would be fine.

“Here come the copters,” said Leech, pointing skyward.

I moved to the back, and Lilly slid out of the way. I looked at her and she nodded. “He’s lucky that’s all he got.”

I yanked on the lines and pressed the pedals. We pulled into a steep angle and shot back toward the roof. We rose above the SafeSun, the wind blistering at our velocity, the ceiling of the southwest wall closing in. Brilliant light spilled in through the open vent.

“They’re getting closer,” said Lilly. I turned to see her pointing off to starboard. There were little cracks, and bullets splintered the side of the craft. “Guess they’re not worried about our safety anymore!” she added.

I started banking the craft back and forth. Zigzagging. A bullet tore through the port sail. But we were nearing the open vent.

“We’re gonna do this!” yelled Leech, squinting his eyes against the bright triangle of sky.

I thrust us into one more sweeping arc then straightened out. More pops of gunfire . . .

And we burst through into daylight.

“We’re out!” I shouted.

The curve of the dome fell away beneath us, the rings of thousands of solar panels reflecting like a crystal forest. And above, a pure, searing white sun burned in a cloudless afternoon sky. The ground below was stepped rock and barren plains. To our right, the bed of Lake Superior was ringed with different shades of dried sediment. The tiny green sliver of its remaining water was visible far off.

I looked back and saw that one of the copters had risen through the dome but was just hovering there, watching us go.

And just like that, EdenWest was already distant, its entire monolithic form in our view, shrinking fast. Soon it was only a little bubble on the world.

Lilly threw her arms around me. “You just did that,” she said.

“Yeah,” I breathed. A week after sinking to the lake floor, I’d flown out the dome roof, my dragonfly change complete, I was something different now, something more. And not alone, but with Lilly, and with this tiny group of people, knotted together,
my
people. “We did,” I said.

The sky was the deep blue of late afternoon. The engine hummed and I used the pedals to keep us high and straight against wind gusts. The air was hot, sweet with the smell of baking rock, the dry that I knew from back home. That humid clinginess was gone; so was the feeling of being enclosed. Suddenly we were out in the vast, vacant world, and who knew what we would face next?

“Cool,” said Leech. He was looking down. We were passing over a barren town.

I watched the little model world slide by. The empty, crumbled brick buildings clustered around dirt-covered streets, the sun-bleached cars tossed here and there—it looked like the remains of an ancient civilization. Some mysterious people had once lived here, when the world was different. And we were the gods from an even more distant past, now come back from the future.

Soon, EdenWest was only a glint of reflected sunlight on the horizon.

We sped on, bearing west across the wasteland.