The Planet Thieves (22 page)

“Start the shuttle,” he told Tom.

“Please,” Tom prompted.

“Start the shuttle, please,” Mason said, even though he was technically Tom's superior. For right now, anyway.

“Whoa, where do you think you're going?” Tom said.

Mason was walking toward the building. From this angle, he could see the doorway in the bottom floor. The skyscraper was huge, but the door was small, and not even a door, just a vertical rectangular opening framing the darkness within.

“I have to know why we were brought here,” Mason said.

“On second thought, Stellan can do the shuttle,” Tom said. “I'm coming with you.”

“I can totally start the shuttle!” Stellan said, hurrying for the ramp.

Mason looked at Merrin, who raised her violet eyebrows. “Let's check it out.”

If the inside was structurally stable, maybe they could use it against the king: lure the Tremist inside, and then grab Susan in the darkness or something. They would need an advantage no matter what. If the trade happened on open ground, Mason had a feeling they'd all be taking a ride in the king's Hawk.

The three of them approached the tower, falling into a wedge pattern with Mason in the front, slightly spread out so they didn't make one big target. Mason kept his hands ready; he could feel a charge crawling across his palms, tickling him. The warble of life around them began to fade the closer they got, as if the tower was muting it somehow. It became very quiet within ten steps, then absolutely silent five more later. As if they'd passed through some kind of shield that kept the noise out.

Mason turned around; everything behind them looked okay. Stellan waved at them from the cockpit of the shuttle. Merrin waved back.

“Creepy,” Tom said.

The entrance was right in front of them now, shadows within. Mason swallowed and reminded himself he'd gotten this far. Then he stepped inside the tower, and his friends followed.

He was not prepared for what he would find inside.

 

Chapter Thirty-six

Columns rose up around them, disappearing into darkness above. Everything was filthy and crusted with time. Yet the air smelled fresh, not ancient. As far as Mason could tell, the entire tower was one incredibly tall room.

“There,” Tom whispered. “Just ahead.”

Tom pointed to a single pillar in the very middle of the room. It was just a few feet taller than Mason. Resting atop it was a pure black sphere, like someone had dipped a basketball in the blackest paint imaginable.

“Come closer,” a voice said, filling the entire tower. Filling Mason's
mind
.

He couldn't be sure if he'd imagined it, until Merrin said, “Yeah, right.”

But the voice didn't seem hostile; it wasn't dripping with malice. It was more like an invitation.

The sphere on the pillar began to glow. “Closer, please? Don't make me come to you,” the voice said again.

“I wonder if Stellan needs help with the ship,” Tom said.

Mason wondered that too. Perhaps Stellan needed
all
their help, and maybe they should go try to help him, like right now.

“Oh, for Adams' sake, I won't bite!” the voice said.

In the blink of an eye, the sphere was hovering a foot above the pillar. On the surface was a perfect image of a bright red heart. It beat slowly. “See? I love you.”

The voice came from the sphere.

So Mason took yet another chance, and began to walk toward it. Once they got halfway, the heart changed into perfectly clear words that said THANK YOU! in neon yellow. It was like a video screen covered the sphere, like the peel of an orange.

“I have been waiting so long for your arrival that if I told you how long, you would call me a liar,” the sphere said. Now it showed various scenes of the forest around them, the sky above, flickering back to the beating heart, and then a smiley face.

“How long?” Mason asked.

“I may have forgotten. But—never mind. You really don't have the time. I have to tell you something, and then I have to send you on your way. Your enemies, they are close.”

“What—” Tom began.

“Stop!” the sphere said. “I mean, please stop. My name is Child. I am a creation of the People, who last populated this place you call Nori-Blue. I am what you call intelligence that is artificial. I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

A cold finger prodded Mason's lower spine. The way Child had said it …

“The People make you humans and your Tremist enemies look like blithering idiots,” Child said, and an image appeared on his screen of a man's sneering face.

“You brought us here,” Mason said, realizing it as he said it.

“Of course,” Child replied. “You are the first sign.”

Mason almost asked what he meant, but didn't want to get scolded.

“Thank you for not asking that question,” Child said. “I saw your Egypt in orbit, and decided now was the time to reveal the truth. Because you can deliver this truth to both sides equally. You are a human and Tremist united.”

He meant Merrin. A Tremist cadet in the ESC.

But what truth…? Mason's stomach turned. He almost didn't want to know. Or he wanted to know
right now,
to get it over with. The dread soured the taste in his mouth.

“Let me be clear,” Child said. “I do not trust the Tremist, and I do not trust the humans. You have both grown self-centered over your years. Both sides would use the truth for their own gain, not for peace. But I have seen into your hearts, young ones, and I know you can end this war.”

The heart came back, beating happily on the surface of the sphere.

Just then, the com in Mason's ear clicked.

It was Jeremy. He sounded out of breath. “—gotta bug out. Mason? I gotta bug out. Tremist in the system in a big way. Not just the king's Hawk—
all of them
. I'll try to come back. Hole up tight, buddy.”

Before Mason could reply, the com went dead.

The others hadn't heard.

“The Egypt had to leave the system,” Mason told them, swallowing. “The Tremist are here.”

“
Listen,
then,” Child said, before the others could reply. “This is the truth you will bring to your people.”

 

Chapter Thirty-seven

Instead of telling them, Child granted them understanding. In one moment, they knew nothing. Then the sphere emitted tight beams of light into their eyes. Mason squeezed his eyes shut and flinched away, but the beams tracked his eyes, pierced his lids, and fed directly into his brain.

In the next moment, they knew it all.

Humans and Tremist weren't alien to each other. They didn't evolve on separate planets.

They both came from Nori-Blue.

They were both children of the People.

At the height of the People's civilization, war broke out, as wars tend to do. By this time, the People had technology that even the Tremist would not be able to understand. They had thrived for so long that, over fifty thousand years earlier, they had actually evolved into two different species. The new species were known as the Fangborn, beastly creatures that were all cunning and strength. It was like some of the People had peaked through evolution, then began reverting back to animal form. The unaffected People lived on to become the Adams, who were the same as they'd always been, physically weaker than the Fangborn, but more intelligent.

As the Fangborn overwhelmed their former brothers, a large group of Adams escaped Nori-Blue in two ships.

They split up to ensure their survival. One ship went to what was now called Earth, and the other went to the Tremist homeworld.

That was a few million years ago, give or take thirty-four thousand.

But the Fangborn, they're very much alive.

Waiting under the surface of Nori-Blue.

Waiting for the Adams to come home, so that they might have something new to feast upon.

*   *   *

To Mason, the Fangborn sounded more like monsters than people.

But Child's story made sense. Or at least it explained how the Tremist and humans appeared so similar. Take away the violet eyes and hair, the nearly translucent skin, and Merrin was a human. And their similarities weren't just physical, either. Both races had ruined their planets. Both were greedy for another to ruin. That's what this whole mess was about.

“Are there any Adams left?” Mason asked, breaking the silence.

“Only their children. Only you. The pure bloodline is gone. But listen carefully.” An exclamation point, glowing in green, appeared on the sphere. “As last sentinel of the People, I have been tasked with preserving their history, so that whoever might return to Nori-Blue would know the truth, and be able to share it. I've created a book that contains everything.”

The sphere was now an image of gnashing teeth and frantic, violent images too quick for Mason to process. “The Fangborn have been waiting impatiently, trapped underground in an extremely powerful stasis field created by the Adams. They've built their cities in enormous caves, hidden from both Tremist and human. And they've been watching. They know you're here. And while they can't hurt me directly, they know you three are in a position to bring this truth to both sides. If the Fangborn are revealed before the planet is colonized by either side, they will be at a disadvantage. They're counting on people becoming comfortable before they attack. They will eat this truth, if they can.”

Mason shivered.
Eat
.

“Wait,” Merrin said. “Why don't you just keep them underground?”

“Ahhh,” Child said. The sphere began spinning lazily.

“What is it?” Mason said. “Tell us!”

“Well. I brought you three here because I believe in you. But also because I'm running out of energy and will no longer be able to maintain the field. I've been doing it for a very long time, you know.”

“How much time do we have?” Mason said, his heart beating faster.

“Nineteen minutes. Actually, eighteen minutes and forty-seven seconds.”

Mason didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He just stood there, feeling like he'd been slapped.

“You idiot!” Tom said. “You brought us here and now you're saying they're after
us,
when they weren't just … what, a half hour ago?
And
they're about to be freed for the first time in millions of years?”

“Exactly,” Child replied, with no hint of remorse.

“Oh,” Tom said. “Well, you shouldn't have done that.”

“I did not say it would be easy,” Child said, pulsing with a heart again. “But I know bravery is strong in all of you. You wouldn't be here otherwise. Dig deep and find it.”

Easier said than done,
Mason thought.

“Now come,” Child said. “Before it's too late.”

 

Chapter Thirty-eight

Child floated off his pillar and began to drift away.

Merrin started forward, but Tom said, “I don't know about this. And I'm not saying that because I'm scared. I mean, I am, because I'm smart, but that's not why.”

Mason didn't know about this either, but he knew when there was a choice, and when there wasn't. This time there was no choice. It was too incredible to be a trick, and he couldn't figure out the angle if it was one. Which meant it was probably the truth, and both races were counting on them.

So they followed Child at a distance. The sphere floated to the back of the tower, and a hand appeared on the surface every so often, beckoning them forward. At the back was a winding tunnel that curled to the left, descending in a helix. The way was lit, but Mason couldn't see how—the lighting was ambient, with no obvious source.

“A little quicker, please,” Child urged, picking up his pace. The cadets broke into a jog, spinning down and down, first ten complete spirals, then twenty. Mason had no idea how far underground they were.

After somewhere between thirty and forty spirals, the tunnel ended in a huge cavern. It reminded Mason of an indoor stadium on Earth, but with rough rock walls. In the center of the cavern was a pillar similar to Child's.

But on this one rested a book.

“Go to it!” Child said.

Mason ran toward the pillar, and out of the gloom at the other end of the cavern, he saw something. An opening to another tunnel.

He slowed.

“They can't get in!” Child said. “Hur—”

A deep roar cut the sphere off. Two more followed, louder than before. Then Mason heard the scraping sounds of claws on rock and the gnashing and grinding of teeth. All coming from the darkness at the other end of the tunnel.

Tom stopped completely, and Merrin slowed. Mason sped up, because he knew getting to the book sooner meant leaving sooner.

“The Fangborn try, but they can't,” Child said. “I promise. They just like to try. The People made sure I could protect their knowledge, and I do. For another few minutes, at least!”

Mason was at the book. It rested open, flat on its spine. It was huge, bigger than any book Mason had ever seen. In fact, carrying it out of there was going to be a problem. It looked as if it was bound in gold.

“Touch it,” Child said.

Mason did.

And then everything changed.

 

Chapter Thirty-nine

In the span of a few seconds, the book transferred the entire history of the People to Mason. He could feel it in his brain like a weight. Right now it was a locked box, near to bursting, so heavy his head swam and his eyes blurred with tears. He felt a strange buzz inside his skull, similar to the electricity he felt in his gloves, but more distracting.

“Easy, easy,” Child said. “Don't try to look.”

There was simply too much knowledge. Mason didn't want to open the door to that knowledge, because it felt like it would all collapse on him.