The Arrival (18 page)

He strolled from behind the desk.
“Please be very, very careful. I don’t want anything happening to either of you.
And I’m sure you’re aware of the implications this can have on me, as well.
You’re not the only ones at risk.”

“Of course, Sir.”  Pressing my lips
together, I nodded. “We’ll be very cautious. Thank you, again.”

“Kate, hang in there.” He gave her a tight
hug. “We’ll get you girls out soon enough.” 

θ

As soon as the door shut, Kate grabbed
me by the arm. “Miranda, I think we’re getting in way over our heads. This is
too dangerous, and you know it.”

Her words weighed heavy on my heart and
mind. But I reminded myself why we had to do it.

Freedom.

“I know, but what choice do we have? We
have to at least try and get that information to him.”

“You’re right.” Her shoulders slumped.
“But is this worth risking our lives? I mean, have you
really
thought
long and hard about it? What could happen if the Eslites catch us?”

“Kate, we’ve already had this
discussion.” I placed my hands on her arms. “Who’s going to save the girls at
Nidus? We are their only hope. We have to try and help them. We’ve come this
far. We can’t stop now.”

“Oh, Miranda.” She shuffled her feet and
turned her head, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t go soft on me now.” I gave her a
slight shake, forcing her to look at me. “I need you.  More importantly, who’s
going to avenge Aliah’s death?”

“But what if we get caught?” She
shrugged and stared at me, her lip trembling with fear. “Dimas will have us
killed.”

I shook my head. “No, he won’t.”

“Yeah, right.” She cocked a brow. “We’ve
all heard the rumors. We know what he’s capable of.”

“But I know better.”  I released her and
took a step back. “Trust me, he won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

I turned and headed to the front door,
avoiding her remark. I hadn’t told her anything about our connection, and now
wasn’t the time. Besides, I wasn’t sure if she would understand, but in reality
I didn’t completely understand or know if I could really trust him.

“Miranda, what makes you think he won’t
kill us?” Kate pressed. “Huh?”

I opened the door. “Never mind, let’s
go.”

“You’re hiding something.” She huffed.
“I can—”

“No, I’m not.” I spun around, keeping a
firm grip on the knob. “It’s intuition, that’s all,” I said, trying to conceal
my secret. “Look, we are his key donors—the elite ones. He won’t kill us. What
good are we to him if we’re dead?”

“No.” She jammed a finger in my chest.
“You’re the superior donor. Not me, remember?”

“And you’re a top donor,” I snapped. “In
case you forgot.” I stepped into the hall.

“No, I didn’t forget, but I believe
you’re more precious to Dimas than I am,” she responded, slamming the door
behind her. “Who’s to say he won’t kill me,” she lowered her voice. “Or kill my
uncle when he finds out he’s helping us?” She shook her head. “I knew this was
a bad idea. We shouldn’t have come here.”

She walked in the direction opposite the
entrance. “Kate. Wait. Don’t be mad.” I gritted my teeth. “We had to do this.
We didn’t have a choice. You promised you’d stick by my side.” She continued
down the hall, ignoring my pleas.

“Fine!” I threw my hands up, spun on my
heels, and ducked, as I nearly collided with a large flying object about the
size of a macaw. It flew past me and halted in front of Kate.

The creature, which resembled a dragon
coated in an armor of silver, stared at her. It flapped its shiny silver wings
as it hovered in front of her. It fixated on her face, as if ready to attack.
The dragon’s black eyes flickered and narrowed until they turned bright neon
blue.

“What the heck is that?” Kate squealed.

The air extinguished from my lungs.

Shit.

“It’s an aerial bot from Nidus.” I
stressed each word slowly, trying to not alarm her.

“What do I do?” She flinched and
searched for a path of escape.

“Be calm and walk backwards, slowly,” I
whispered.

“Okay. But where’d it come from?”  She
stumbled but recovered. “I’ve never seen one like that before.”

“Shh. Be quite.” I tried to pull her
back, but her feet seemed cemented to the floor. “Move.” I tugged her hand.

She nodded, and with caution we
retreated from the dragon creature. It pressed forward with each step we took,
inching its way closer to us. The bot snapped its tail back and forth in slow,
slithery movements as it moved with flare and vigor. A faint clicking sound
echoed as its metal skin moved about and the scales reclined into place.

“Prepare to be scanned,” the synthesized
voice announced.

“Oh, no.” Kate reached for the door to
the senator’s office.

“No.” I swatted her hand. “That’s not a
good idea — he has the letters. You’re going to have to let it scan you.”

“What?” She released the knob. “Are you
sure?” she hesitated, as though she wasn’t convinced it was the best option.

But what other choice did we have? If we
ran, an alert would be sent immediately, notifying the Eslites. I had to trust
that the identity switch would work on her, as well.

“It’s going to be all right.” I did my
best to reassure her. “It will work. Trust me. Just like the Locubot scanned
me, it will do the same to you.”

The Dragon Bot arched its neck in a
cobra position, as it perched in front of her face. Its nostrils flared, as if
it breathed like a living creature. When it opened its mouth, I half expected
fire to blaze out but instead it said, “Stand by for scanning.”

Kate sucked in a deep breath and stood
perfectly still, allowing the intricately designed bot to proceed. But instead
of scanning her pupils, its eyes emitted a low-beam light, which spanned her
face. The blue ray radiated down her forehead and paused at her pupils, where
it lingered for a while, before flickering up and down. Then it continued its
scrutiny, tracing the bridge of her nose, her cheeks, and lips, and then the
tip of her chin.

Oh, no. It inventoried her entire
profile. My stomach twisted into a tight knot and alarms sounded in my head.

“Miranda.” She dug her nails into my
palm.

“I know, just wait.” I held her steady,
praying that the database would link to her alias information.

Suddenly, the ray narrowed and retracted
into the Dragon Bot. The neon blue dissipated into a bottomless black color.
The creature’s eyes pulsated in and out, like the lens of a camera focusing on
its target. The small computer buzzed and whirred, as it searched for the
information—which I hoped didn’t reveal Kate’s true identity.

“We are unable to verify your
credentials. Please wait until an Eslite guard arrives,” the Dragon Bot declared
clearly, word by word.

“Oh, crap,” Kate cried, under her
breath.

Without thought, I pulled off my backpack.
Pushing Kate aside, I gripped the bag and swung at the Dragon Bot with all my
strength. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

The bot swirled through the air like a
shiny metal ball, slamming against the marble tiled wall. It dropped to the
floor, flapping its wings in slow, broken movements. I ran to it and slammed my
foot down repeatedly. Using the heel of my shoe, I stomped on the partially
crushed device, shattering it into several pieces. “Die! You piece of shit.”

“Is it dead?” Kate leaned over,
examining the broken piece of metal.

“Yes, there they are,” a familiar voice
echoed down the hall.

We turned just as the security guard
from the front of the building pointed at us. Two tall, well-built men stood at
the end opposite end of the long corridor.

“Oh no!” Kate yelled. “The Eslites.”

 “You are not authorized to leave this
building until your identification has been cleared,” one of the Eslites guards
instructed.

“Time to go!” I yanked on Kate’s arm.

I gave the Dragon Bot one more hard
kick, spreading the fragments across the floor. We sprinted past the senator’s
office and turned the corner, narrowly evading another aerial bot. I glanced
behind me and gasped as the bot circled to join the chase.

“Run, Kate. Don’t stop.”

Heavy black boots pounded the marble
floor, signaling the Eslite guards were on our tail. They were fast, and I
doubted we could outrun them, but we had to try.

The blood in my heart pumped faster, and
my breath quickened. Kate made a quick left, and I followed her down a long
hallway.

“Stop. You are in violation of Eslite
Order 157.21. An Eslite guard must verify your identify.” The electronic voice
reverberated off the walls.

Halting at the end of the hallway, we
looked to our left, then our right. “This way,” Kate said, grabbing my wrist as
we raced down another corridor. “There has to be an emergency exit somewhere.”

After passing several more office doors,
we hooked a left, then a right. Another Dragon Bot appeared in front of us. We
skidded to a stop, crashing into one another. It spread its wings like an
eagle. A blue laser shot from the robot, scanning our entire bodies. “Halt. You
must wait for a guard to verify your identity.”

“Hurry.” I pushed Kate in the opposite
direction.  Seemingly endless hallways surrounded us. The building was a maze,
and we were two mice trapped in it. Impending fear folded in around me, but I
fought back.
I’m a Mays, and Mays are tough. We don’t quit.
Sunlight
filtered through the glass, shining on the wall at the end of the passage.
“There’s a door.”

“Let’s go.” Kate panted.

I took the lead, directing us toward the
light, hoping we’d found our escape from the building.

“Stop. You are in violation of Eslite
Order 157.21. An Eslite guard must verify your identify,” the Dragon Bot roared
from behind us.

“Stop. You are in violation…” another
bot repeated.

“Miranda.” Kate wailed in horror. “There’s
two Dragon Bots after us.”

My pulsed raced with fear. We’d gotten
that far. We weren’t about to get caught now. I rounded the corner and came to
a screeching halt. Kate bumped against me. “No, no.” She whimpered.

“Damn, an alcove.” I slammed my fist
against the window, but it barely rattled. “Quick, against the wall.” I shoved
Kate to the opposite side, using her as bait. I poised with my backpack in
hand, ready to destroy the bots.

The two Dragon Bots flew into range,
automatically landing in front of her. “Batter up.” With one swift swing, I
took them both down. We lunged forward, stomping and kicking the nasty
creatures.

“Die! Die!” Kate shouted, pounding and
jumping on top of the pesky device until its armor shell cracked and shiny
pieces of silver littered the floor.

“Run, Kate,” I said, pushing her through
the rubble. “Here they come.”

At least five bots followed by two or
three Eslite guards tracked toward us.

“Stop. You are violating order number
315.75,” an Eslite guard announced.

The clunking of the rubber against the
marble floor and the buzz from the bots echoed through the building. My heart
kicked up about one hundred notches. We had to get out of the building. I
refused to be caught. Scurrying down another pathway, I immediately started
checking every door.

“See if an office is open. We can hide
out in there,” I managed to say between breaths.

Kate nodded. “Okay.”

With fumbling fingers, I twisted the
knobs on the left, while she jiggled the ones on the right.

“Shit! They’re all locked.” Kate
stumbled in the hallway. “What do we do now?”

No. That couldn’t be the end. I refused
to let the Eslites win. A sudden movement caught my attention, and I turned as
a lady with three kids exited an office.

“We’re not giving up yet.” I grabbed
Kate’s hand and dragged her down the hall. We pushed through the entrance and
found ourselves in a room filled with several people sitting in a large waiting
area. Outdated music played a weird duet with crying and complaining kids, as
their parents sat with wary expressions on their faces. The office looked like
a public assistance agency of some type.

Everyone glanced at us, probably
wondering why we were gasping for air and dripping with sweat. I shut the door.
Kate wiped her forehead and used the back of her shorts to dry her hands. It
was obvious we didn’t belong there.

We walked past the check-in station and
headed straight to the row of windows in the back.

“Miranda, people are staring,” Kate
whispered.

“What do you want me to do? Save us or
be polite?” We didn’t have much of a choice if we wanted to get out of the
building.

“Well? Do they open?” Kate peered over
my shoulder.

“Nope.” I released the slants from the
blinds, and they snapped into place. “We’re not getting out this way.”

“Damn. I give up.” She slapped her
thighs and slumped on the seat. “We might as well surrender now. It’s only a
matter of time before they capture us and send us back to Nidus. I’m dead
either way.”

“No, Kate. We’re not surrendering.” I
knelt beside her. “Freedom. We are fighting for our freedom. Remember?”