The Gender End Read online

  She stabilized the ship low to the ground, and then began flipping switches. “Find them,” she said hurriedly, sweat beading on her forehead. “If it starts charging again, then we fire.”

  Logan began cycling through images on the screen in front of her, until they found one of the tower, rapidly disappearing behind us. She watched it for a full minute, her violet eyes searching for any sign that they were firing again, and then sighed, sinking into the pilot’s seat.

  “We’re clear,” she announced, flipping a switch and killing the image.

  I let out a long breath, and then looked down and realized that I had been holding Violet’s hand tightly in my own, squeezing it with a death grip. She and I looked at each other, and I lifted her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it.

  “Thank you,” I said softly, and she smiled.

  “I think we’d better thank Amber,” she panted, and I realized she was trembling slightly. I undid our buckles and pulled her into a hug, and she let out a shuddering breath, clutching my arms. “Can we never do that again?”

  “I only wish I could promise that, my love. But we’re okay. And you’re right—that was some spectacular flying, Amber.”

  Amber swiveled around in her seat to look at us both. “I take thanks in the form of chocolate and strawberries, preferably where the strawberry is covered with the chocolate.” Even through her teasing, it was hard not to note her uneven breathing and the pallor of her cheeks.

  I chuckled—it was hard not to—and then couldn’t resist the urge to tease her a smidge. “Should I also thank the man who taught you?”

  “Ha!” Amber scoffed at the same time that Vox said, “Well, obviously. Anybody who could pull off such an impressive move probably had a genius teacher.”

  I snorted as Amber whipped around to give him a hot glare. “Why don’t you go run an internal scan to see how bad the damage was? I think we only caught the very edge of the beam, but…” Her anger seemed to burn out in the face of shock at what we’d just witnessed. “God… can you believe that! How did they even do that?”

  “It has something to do with the sunlight, that much is for sure,” I said, my eyes going up toward the ceiling. The red-hot metal had turned dull again, but the grated ceiling was no longer lying flat. In fact, it had warped inward, in a track as wide as the palm of my hand. “Extraordinary.”

  Whether they were channeling the sun, or had somehow managed to replicate its heat in order to create a weapon, the implications were mindboggling. If all the panels on the tower could be controlled like that, it made for a pretty formidable defense. Just watching the other ship get destroyed… the ease with which the beam of light had done it… Terrifying. Yet fascinating. Especially now that we were—hopefully—out of range.

  “Solomon!” Violet gasped, and she immediately jumped for the cargo bay, pulling away from my embrace. Her knees were shaky. If there was one thing I knew about my girl, it was that she didn’t particularly enjoy flying, not since that one time she had accidentally crashed a flying motorcycle into The Green. But of course she didn’t let it stop her.

  I moved behind her and found Solomon where we had left him on one of the benches in the back, a blanket draped over him, with three thick red strips wrapped around his chest and looped through an exposed support on the bulkhead below, fixing him in place.

  “Logan and I strapped him down, just in case,” Amber called from the cockpit over the noise. “Is he okay?”

  Violet quickly checked his pulse, and then nodded, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose and exhale. “He’s fine,” she shouted into the cockpit, clearly relieved.

  “And you?” I asked, taking a step closer. Her silver eyes dragged up to me, and I saw sadness there.

  “Kathryn and Belinda are dead,” she said. “I’m not even sure how I’m supposed to feel about it, but I feel… I feel…”

  I cupped her cheeks between my hands. “Baby, it’s okay. Feel however you want. I’m sure whatever happened on that ship between the three of you wasn’t easy, but I know you, and you would never wish death on anyone who didn’t really deserve it.”

  “We helped save each other’s lives,” she murmured. “And now they’re gone. If they had only come with us, we could’ve…”

  “Violet. If they had come with us, there would’ve only been one ship for them to target, and we would’ve all been dead before we even knew to run.”

  She nodded, but I could tell that answer didn’t satisfy her. It didn’t satisfy me, either. It just seemed so wasteful, what the residents of the tower had done. If they were doing it to send a message… it was a cruel one. A shudder ran through me as I realized this was the same thing KC Alexander had said before they’d seen us off—“a waste of resources.” Had this been what he was talking about? He’d been angry they’d healed us, only to decide to kill us off at the last minute? Anger rose in my gut, but there was really nothing to be done about it, so I let it go.

  “Belinda’s sister might have been at one of the guard posts,” Violet said. “Last name Carver. When we get close enough, can you have Henrik look into it? I… I owe Belinda that.”

  I nodded, and she seemed to ease up a little bit. Looking her over, I took in the bags under her eyes and the glazed look in them. “Why don’t you lie down and close your eyes for a bit? You look like you could use a few minutes’ rest.”

  “You could too,” she argued, her words barely distinguishable from the yawn that seemed to catch her unawares. “You’ve been up just as long as me.”

  “True, but I got some sleep on the heloship.”

  “No you didn’t,” she said, and I shook my head at how well she knew me, but she allowed me to guide her over to one of the benches and sit her down. I quickly pulled out a few blankets and made a makeshift bed for her, complete with a pillow made out of a folded blanket. I helped her take off her boots, and had her lie down on her side, spooning up behind her, knowing she needed to feel some human comfort right then.

  It was a tight fit with the two of us on the little bench, but we made do, and within minutes, Violet was fast asleep, her breathing deep and heavy. I lay with her for a few long minutes, absorbing her warmth, and then, before I could fall asleep too, carefully pulled away, moving to the cockpit.

  “How bad is the damage?” I asked, closing the door partially to keep our voices from waking Violet up.

  Amber flipped a switch, and then swiveled around, her mouth opening to answer, but it was Vox who got there first. “It could’ve been much worse,” he announced, cleaning oil from his fingers with a stained red cloth. “A lot worse. None of the wings were hit, and that area is actually pretty armored for defense purposes. The shaft that controls the wings and the propeller movement is warped, but only slightly, so we have close to ninety percent functionality.”

  Amber looked at him, her lips pursed, and then she looked back at me, giving me a nod. “What he said.”

  “How far do you think we are from The Green?” I asked.

  “At least a few hours. It’ll probably be early evening when we get in. If not later. But we’ll get there. You can go grab a few hours of sleep if you want. And maybe use some of those cleansing wipes from my bags. No offense, Viggo, but you reek.”

  “None taken. I’m well aware,” I replied dryly. “But it’s been a long… I don’t even know anymore. What time unit do you think would be appropriate?”

  She gave me a droll look and then turned back to the helm. “Whatever it is, it’s been too long,” she agreed. “Go get some sleep. Logan, you too. I’ll need you to take over for me in a couple hours.”

  “You sure you want to stay awake by yourself?” I asked. “Everyone’s exhausted, and you aren’t immune to that either.”

  “Viggo, I just saved us all from what I am going to call a death ray. My adrenaline is still pumping, and even when that fades, I don’t think I could sleep for quite some time after what we just witnessed.” Even with her back to me, I could see the slight s
hudder as she thought about it, and I didn’t blame her. Besides, while Amber was notoriously stubborn, she had always proven herself responsible. She’d wake us if her exhaustion grew too severe.

  “Okay,” I conceded. “Just shout if you need anything.”

  “Sleep,” she ordered. “Both of you.”

  “I’m going to stay up a little bit longer,” announced Vox. “I want to run a few more systems checks, and I think there are a few minor things I can repair before I nap.” Amber gave him an irritated look, and he grinned toothily at her. “As long as I have your permission to do so, Captain Ashabee.” His tone was teasing and light, but even so, her spine stiffened and she turned away from him.

  “Do whatever makes you happy, Logan,” she said after a moment.

  I bit my tongue to keep from making a comment, choosing discretion and heading into the bay. I pulled out a few more blankets and made them up on the floor next to Violet’s bench. It was tempting to climb back on the bench next to her, but it was too uncomfortable, and we both needed sleep. I lay down on my back and closed my eyes.

  “Viggo?”

  I jerked upright, alarmed and confused. I could have sworn I had just shut my eyes, but it was clear several hours had gone by. Violet was kneeling over me, her small hand on my shoulder, another hand wrapped around a protein ration. I blinked groggily up at her, and then ran a hand through my disheveled hair.

  “What time is it?” I croaked, my mouth dry.

  Violet checked her watch. “Five p.m. We’ve been asleep for eight hours. I guess Amber is taking the long way back to Patrus. She said we won’t run out of fuel as long as we go slowly and use this tailwind.” She reached over and picked up a bottle of water that was sitting on the bench where I had put her to bed what felt like moments ago, and held it out to me. I quickly downed the entire contents of the bottle, feeling exceptionally parched, and then devoured the protein ration, my stomach so empty that I was certain it was wrapped around my spine trying to eat it for the lack of nutrients.

  Violet was picking at her own food, playing with it mostly, and I reached out and touched her knee. “Baby, you have to try to eat something. I know it’s been a trying day, but I’m sure we’re almost home.”

  The corners of her mouth tilted upward, and she shot me a grateful look. “You’re right, but I’m really just not very hungry at the moment. Let’s go check in with Amber and see where we are.”

  I nodded and ran a hand over my face, trying to clear away the grit from sleeping. I craved nothing less than a shower and a bed, in that order. A long night of sleep with Violet next to me would do a lot to help ease the acidic nature of my stomach and the stiff aches and pains in my body, as well as give me time to process the emotional wounds that were there, still bleeding, just under the surface.

  Climbing to my feet, I followed Violet onto the bridge to find Amber splayed out on her own mat on the floor, Logan behind the wheel. The sun was beginning to set, but as I moved to the bubble, I could see that we were definitely in familiar territory. The expanse of The Green hung just below us, the river on the right side of the aircraft.

  “When did she zonk out?” I asked the man.

  He clicked a few buttons and adjusted the controls before answering, his focus on the screen. “About three hours ago. We lost the river for a while, and lost some time in the process, but she wasn’t going to go to sleep until she found it again, and luckily…”

  “You lost the river?” I asked, frowning.

  “It went underground for a while, but we found it, so no big deal. Anyway, I followed the instructions and tried to contact Henrik an hour ago, but no response. You want to try?”

  “Sure,” I said, taking the headset he offered me and manipulating the buttons so I could speak into it. “Henrik, Ms. Dale, this is Viggo. Are you receiving me?”

  I listened intently, watching Violet as she stood by the window, staring down at The Green. There was a pop of static, followed by, “Viggo, is that really you?”

  Chuckling at the familiar sound of Henrik’s voice, I hit the transmit button. “Yes indeed. What? Didn’t think we could make it back from The Outlands?”

  “Oh, don’t get a big head, kid,” Henrik grumped, before letting enthusiasm that would match a youngster’s bubble up in his voice. “Did you find Violet? I’m assuming so, or we wouldn’t be talking.”

  “Yeah, I got her,” I said, and she flashed a smile over her shoulder at me before turning back to The Green below. “We’re all safe. We even got Solomon, and… well… We’ve got a lot to fill you in on, but we’ll do it when we land. Speaking of which, where are we landing? What’s the status of Patrus?”

  “Well, thanks to the heloships you helped to procure this morning, we were able to remove the remaining Matrians from the guard posts quite peacefully. I can’t say I blame them—it’s kind of hard to keep fighting with three gunships aiming at you. Drew and Mags took their people into the city to start clearing out the gangs that had formed. We’re just trying to get them to stand down, if we can, and if they refuse, well, Mags and her team have started a collection of Porteque gang members, and the ones that did not go peacefully are not happy about their decisions. Alejandro’s niece is tough as nails, I’ll give her that. We’ve also encountered only a handful of enhanced people, but Dr. Tierney gave us some tranquilizer guns to help knock them out until we get them secured. We’re still working on a long-term solution to that… Anyway, I’ve got some landing coordinates for you. It’s going to be a tight fit, but it was the best place we found inside the city that was big enough to hold everything. Don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t take you too long to feel quite at home.”

  He fed me the coordinates, which I repeated to Vox, checking them twice, and then checking my watch. “I think we’ll be there in another hour or so, but I’ll radio when we get close, okay?”

  “Okay. And Viggo?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Damn good to hear your voice, boy. We’ll see you soon. Looking forward to hearing about The Outlands.”

  OceanofPDF.com

  14

  OceanofPDF.com

  VIOLET

  The red-brick, three-story building drew larger as Logan slowly lowered the ship. A tall fence ran the perimeter, creating a wide yard in the front. The space was currently filled with heloships parked wingtip to wingtip, with barely any room in between. It was dark, but I could make out movement down below as people went about their business in between rows of ships.

  I felt my breath catch as the proximity alarm went off and I saw how close we were to the other ships, convinced we were going to crash into them. Logan flicked it off, even as Viggo’s arms came around me, holding me close to him. The deck shuddered as we touched down, and Logan immediately killed the engine.

  “And the crowd went wild,” he announced as he dusted off his hands.

  “We’re not here to stroke your ego,” yawned Amber, picking herself off the floor and taking a moment to stretch her back. “You got us on the ground, which was your job, so if you’re expecting a thank you…”

  “Would it kill you?” he asked, spinning the chair around to look at her.

  She met his gaze flatly as she lowered her arms. “It might,” she retorted. “Especially before a hot meal and a shower.”

  “Well, I for one am saying thank you,” Viggo said. “To both of you. You are both excellent pilots, and I am grateful for your help in recovering Violet.”

  He squeezed me a little tighter, and I smiled. “Same here,” I told them.

  “Anytime, you know that,” said Amber. “Now let’s get off this thing before the collective might of our B.O. causes it to melt.”

  I snorted and followed her toward the tail of the ship, eager to get back onto solid ground. Amber hit the button to open the door, while I checked on Solomon. He was still out, but the pink goop that had been placed in his wounds was looking more and more skin-like—like a freshly scarred wound rather than gaping holes. I touched the
area around one of the wounds lightly, and the skin felt cool and firm. I wondered about it for a moment, still not really comprehending what had happened at the tower. The miraculous cure seemed like a daydream, impossible to believe, and their weaponized sunlight like a nightmare.

  “We need to get him to the infirmary,” I announced loudly. “And we should really—”

  “Take a break,” ordered a familiar voice from below, and I turned to see Ms. Dale standing at the bottom of the ramp, flanked by two people. “Gary, Matthew, can you take Solomon to Dr. Tierney?”

  The two men—I assumed they were part of one of the rebel cells—moved up the ramp and began to unhook the wounded man from the straps buckling him in. Ms. Dale followed and stood in front of me, her blue eyes taking me in. I couldn’t help it— I rushed toward her and threw my arms around her.

  “It’s so good to see you,” I breathed.

  She dropped her arms around me and squeezed back, then let go of me to cup my face, looking me over, even going so far as to take my arm and prod at the new cast.

  “Looks like you had a pretty interesting adventure,” she said. “And I wish we could spend more time talking about it, but we’ve been holding off a meeting with Drew and Mags until you, Viggo, Amber, and Logan returned.”

  Logan gave a little salute as he moved past her. “I assume there’s a place where I can grab a shower?” he asked, and Ms. Dale nodded.

  “Thomas managed to get the water treatment plant up and running, as well as the power facility. So we’ve got water and heat, although it’s only a short-term fix, and the government will have to put more work into the infrastructure later. Matthew will show you where you and your men will be staying. I assumed you wanted to be placed together.”