The Heroes Return Read online

  “She’s alive.”

  Lucy exhales. “Oh, thank goodness. Where is she? I’ll go visit her next.”

  “She’s not here.”

  Lucy looks at me quizzically.

  “It’s complicated. I’m sure the admiral is going to ban me from talking about this once we finish our debrief, so I might as well tell you now. The Youli rescued us from the rift, and now they have Mira.”

  Lucy’s eyes go wide. “The Youli? I don’t understand. Why would they rescue you?”

  “I’m not sure, really. Waters always hinted that the Youli weren’t all bad.”

  Lucy looks at me sideways. “How can you say that with all that’s happened? Actually, I guess you don’t know all that’s happened. Let’s just say that the war has escalated. And Earth Force has informed the public.”

  My eyes widen. There were rumors, sure, but now it’s official knowledge. Our planet is at war. I wonder what things are like back home.

  I shake my head. “I’m desperate, Lucy. I missed so much. You have to fill me in on everything. So now everyone knows about the Youli?”

  “They do. I’ve made sure of it.” Lucy smiles, bats her spider eyelashes, and tips her head to the side, freakishly like Sheek. “You’re looking at the face of Earth Force—the new and improved feminine face.”

  So the comparison to Sheek was actually real? For Lucy, this must be a dream come true. She wanted to see her name on the webs ever since I met her. But how did she go from cadet to the face of Earth Force in a year? I have so many questions. “No more Sheek?”

  Lucy snorts. “Oh, that clown is still around. But my ratings are sky-high. I have to think his days are numbered.” She does that weird Sheek smile again and looks at me expectantly.

  “Congrats. I’m sure you’re great.”

  “Oh, I am. Speaking of which, I need to read my morning briefing notes. I bet things will be a bit chaotic over in the press room since we’ve raised to red alert, not to mention the unexpected return of the greatest celebrities in the history of Earth! And you, of course. We’ve got to determine the spin, right?”

  With that, she delivers yet another Sheek smile. Then she pushes off the bed and disappears out of the room before I can answer, and before I can press her for more information about the past year.

  When the door closes, I turn my light back off and throw the blanket over my head. Maybe if I burrow down I can catch another hour of sleep. Or at least maybe I can push away the thoughts that are fighting for attention in my mind.

  Cole is chief military strategist and Lucy is the new face of Earth Force. What else has changed while I’ve been gone?

  Do my parents know Addy’s gone AWOL? Or do they think she’s dead, too?

  Why on earth did Mira leave me? What did the Youli say that made her choose to go?

  I thought the only thing they wanted was peace.

  The message!

  I bolt up in bed.

  How could I have forgotten about the message? So much has happened since I arrived at the space station that I didn’t even think about speaking to Admiral Eames about the Youli’s message.

  I need to find the admiral right away! Giving her the message may be the only way to get Mira back. If Mira wants to come back.

  Flipping the light switch, I rummage around on the floor for my shoes then dash to the bathroom. Actually, dash is too strong a word. I quickly wobble to the bathroom. My legs barely feel like they’re holding me up. Dark circles rim my eyes. I look pretty much what you’d expect someone who’s gone through a battle, an alien rescue, and multidimensional time travel on half a night of sleep would look like—which is to say, horrible. I splash some cold water on my face then try to pat down my hair.

  Once I’m dressed, I jet out of my room and instantly realize I have no idea where I am. I didn’t pay attention when Cole walked us here last night, and I basically have no innate sense of direction. My internal compass is so horrible I stranded Mira and me in that VR torture chamber on Alkalinia last night. Or I guess I should say last year. We were lucky we made it out.

  I take off down the hall, following the silver stripe that guides the mini spider crawlers. Hopefully that will get me out of the officers’ quarters at least.

  As I track the stripe around the corner, I think about my lost year and everything I learned from Cole and Lucy since I got back last night. What else did I miss? I wish Marco was here. He would have no problem filling me in, security clearance or not. I can’t believe—

  “Hey!” a girl’s voice calls.

  I stop and look up. A small girl with curly brown hair that falls just below her chin is pancaked against the wall next to the silver stripe.

  She puts her hands on her hips. “You nearly plowed me down, Jasper Adams!”

  5

  “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!” THE girl snaps.

  “Sorry,” I mumble. “I’m kind of lost. How do you know my name?”

  She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at me. She must be confused how someone bright enough to be an Earth Force officer could be dumb enough to get lost at the space station. “Everyone knows your name. Your face has been plastered all across the planet for the last six months, not to mention flashed repeatedly on every web station.”

  “What?” I can’t make sense of anything this girl just said. I take a closer look at her. She looks vaguely familiar. “Do I know you?”

  “Not really. I heard you showed up last night. I work with Lucy, and she talks about you all the time.” She glances down the hall before adding, “And I know your sister.”

  “Addy? Have you heard from her?”

  The girl quickly looks around again like she’s making sure no one heard me. Her eyes are so dark blue they almost look purple. “Of course not. We were juniors together. I didn’t really know Addy until after the battle.”

  “The Battle of the Alkalinian Seat, where I supposedly perished?”

  “That’s the one, although apparently you didn’t.”

  We stand there staring at each other. I’m not sure what to say. I can’t seem to do much other than look at her eyes. I’ve never seen anyone with purple eyes before.

  She blinks, and I remember why I’m here in the first place. “I need to see the admiral. Any chance you know where I can find her?”

  The girl steps away from the wall, forcing me to backpedal.

  “She’s probably finishing up morning briefing,” she says. “I’m headed that way.” She waves her hand to herd me along, then takes off at a brisk pace.

  “What’s your name?” I ask, jogging beside her. If this girl works with Lucy, she must have access to lots of Earth Force information.

  “Jayne.”

  “Are you like another face of Earth Force?” As soon as the words leave my lips, heat rises in my cheeks. I don’t want her to think I’m saying she looks like she should be the face of Earth Force, although she kind of does, especially with the purple eyes.

  She laughs. “No, that’s not my thing, although I do work in public relations. Leave the cameras for Lucy and Max. I’m a copywriter. I compose what they read over the teleprompter.”

  “Did you just call Maximilian Sheek Max? He lets you call him that?”

  “Of course not, but I don’t see him anywhere around here, do you?”

  When I don’t answer, she takes off walking again. “Let’s go, Jasper! I can’t be late. This is going to be a big news day. Haven’t you heard? The famous lost aeronauts and the Earth Force poster boy returned from the dead.”

  I know she’s talking about me, but it doesn’t feel real. Since when am I news? And the whole returned from the dead thing, well, that’s going to take some time to sink in.

  Jayne is fast. In fact, it’s amazing how fast she can walk without breaking into a run. I’m half out of breath when we get to the chute cube. She holds the door and gestures with her hand. “You first.”

  “That’s okay. You go.”

  “I insist. I’ve had way to
o many cadets crash into me in the tube. Something about building a human chain. We just met. I’m not ready for you to grab my ankles.”

  “Who said anything . . . Forget it. I’ll go.” Sliding past her into the cube, I stand on the chute grate with my arms folded across my chest. What’s her problem with a human chain? If my pod mates were here, we’d be fighting over who got to be chain leader.

  Actually, now that Cole is the military strategy god or whatever his title is, maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to goof off with me, a lowly cadet. And I bet Lucy wouldn’t risk messing up her new hairdo and perfect makeup.

  The chute activates, and I’m sucked in. Jayne seems all right and all, but she makes me realize how much I miss the way things used to be. And from what I can tell so far, things used to be very different from how things are now.

  I press my eyes closed and let the wind rush across my skin. For a moment at least, I’m anywhere I want to be. Or maybe I should say, any when I want to be.

  As I’m dumped into the landing trough, I slam back to the here and now.

  Jayne whisks in behind me.

  When we exit the chute cube, she starts down the hall to the right. The hallway ends in a T. The new hall to the left is crowded with people talking and rushing between rooms. To the right, a guard stands post.

  “The press room is that way,” Jayne says, tipping her head to the left. “Admiral Eames is down there.” She nods at the guard.

  “Thanks for showing me the way,” I say. “I’ll see you around.”

  “No problem. And yes, you will. I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of each other.” She turns and heads up the hall, leaving me to brave Admiral Eames solo.

  The guard escorts me the rest of the way to the admiral’s briefing room. My palms start to sweat. Now that I’m about to see the admiral, I’m freaked. What am I going to tell her? Sure, I have a message to deliver, but what am I actually going to say? I can’t exactly waltz in and say, Peace, peace, peace, like the Youli. That would go absolutely nowhere.

  Not to mention, what am I going to tell her about Mira? I’m still not sure how I feel about the Youli, but I know how I feel about Mira. Delivering the message and cooperating with the Youli may be the only way I’ll ever see her again.

  I have to stay focused on my goal: bringing Mira home. That is, if she wants to come home.

  We stop in front of a door. The guard points at a small bench against the wall as he speaks into his com link.

  I sit down and bend over my knees, trying to shut out the hum of the florescent lights so I can come up with a plan for what to say to the admiral. When I finally push back up, the guard is no longer there. It’s just me on the bench. That must mean I’m supposed to wait.

  Yesterday I told the admiral that the Youli took Mira. There’s no doubt she’ll want me to elaborate when we talk. I could set the record straight, explain that Mira chose to go with the Youli. It’s not as if I lied last night. Saying that the Youli took Mira doesn’t mean it wasn’t her choice. After all, the Youli had to take her, because Mira didn’t know how to get out of the rift on her own. So I was technically being completely honest. Maybe the admiral would be more likely to meet with the Youli if she knew Mira had gone with them of her own free will. Maybe Mira’s choice to trust the Youli would convince the admiral to trust them, too.

  Somehow I doubt that.

  Odds are, if I tell the admiral the truth, she’ll think Mira is a traitor. She may even suspect me of being a double agent since everyone knows how close Mira and I are. I might be locked in the cell block and interrogated, especially with security so tight like Cole said. Earth Force may never trust me again. And that’s not the worst of it. If I tell the truth, Mira may never be able to come home.

  Maybe I shouldn’t deliver the message.

  The truth is, I’m not sure what to do. I wish Mira were here. She’d help me through this. She might not tell me what to do, but she’d support me as I figured it out. She’d help me find the strength to push aside my stress with all the changes from my missing year and persuade the admiral to push for peace.

  Of course, the fact that Mira isn’t here is one of the main reasons I’m sitting on this bench right now. I bury my head in my hands. My life is a mess.

  Thanks, Mira. Thanks a lot for leaving me.

  The door opens, and I jerk up. I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting on this bench. Next to me, Denver Reddy exits the admiral’s briefing room. His eyes are puffy. He looks like he didn’t sleep at all last night.

  “I wish you’d reconsider, Cora,” he says to the person on the other side of the door, who must be the admiral. “And if you do, you know where to find me.” He pulls the door shut, leans against the frame, and closes his eyes.

  He’s obviously upset. It’s kind of awkward just sitting here. I try to clear my throat to tip him off that he’s not alone, but my spit goes down the wrong pipe, and I end up in a coughing fit.

  Denver pulls himself together. “You okay, kid?”

  I nod between coughs.

  “You waiting to talk to the boss?”

  I nod again as I get the coughing under control.

  “Careful. She’s in a mood, if you know what I mean.”

  Great. Just what I need. “Thanks for the heads-up. How’s the reentry going?”

  He shrugs. “Strange. Life kept going without me. I guess everything about that is pretty messed up. Got to go. I’m getting briefed on recent history in five minutes.”

  Denver takes off down the hall. Recent history? I probably need to attend that briefing, too, at least the part that covers the past year. Denver’s right about one thing. Everything is pretty messed up.

  “Come on in, Jasper.” Admiral Eames leans against the doorframe.

  I jump to my feet and raise my hand in salute. She barely seems to notice. She just disappears back into the room, which must mean she expects me to follow her.

  I enter the briefing room and realize it’s the same room where we had the meeting last night. Geez. My sense of direction really is awful. I had no idea that’s where I was, and I certainly couldn’t have made it back here without Jayne’s help.

  The room looks a lot different today. The lights are dimmed, and the only person present other than me is the admiral. I’ve never seen Admiral Eames without her entourage. Now suddenly I’m having a one-on-one meeting. This whole return from the rift experience feels like a dream. Or maybe a nightmare.

  She nods at the chair beside her. I pull back the seat and perch on the edge, my back as straight as a board.

  The admiral looks even more tired than Denver. I wonder if he’s one of the reasons why. I don’t know what their relationship was before he was lost in the rift, but it’s clear they were close. It must be super weird for her to see him after all this time. She’s lived more than a dozen years longer than him. She’s fought more wars, commanded more missions, watched more soldiers die.

  “At ease, Jasper. It’s just us.”

  I let my shoulders fall forward, and I scoot back in the chair. Crossing my hands on the table, I tap my thumbs together as I try to figure out what to do next.

  Admiral Eames raises her eyebrows. “You were waiting outside my office, Jasper. I’m assuming you wished to speak with me.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Okay, now I need to lay it all out. “I just thought I’d follow up about my time in the rift—you know, maybe elaborate on some of the stuff we talked about last night.” I twirl my thumbs in a circle to keep focused. I’m still not sure how much to say.

  The admiral nods. “Great, please go ahead.”

  “Well, the thing is, the Youli asked me to give you a message.”

  She tilts her head to the side. “You communicated with the Youli?”

  “Yep. I mean, yes, sir.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “How?”

  Inside, I kick myself. I had all morning to prepare for this meeting and didn’t even plan for this question? I am such an idiot. It’s ba
sically impossible to answer without talking about my brain patch, and I really don’t want the admiral to know about that. “Umm . . .”

  “We know about the Youli patches implanted in yours and Officer Matheson’s brain stems.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. And if we didn’t, you were going to inform me about them in response to my question about how you communicated with the Youli, I presume.” Without waiting for my confirmation, she continues, “Let’s get to the point. What’s the message?”

  Peace. Peace. Peace.

  The word rings in my mind just as it did in the rift. I can almost hear the deep voice of the Youli speaking in my brain: Tell your people we wish to meet and discuss the requirements for your planet’s entry into the Intragalactic Council. This is our gesture of peace.

  “The Youli want to talk about reaching a peace deal and Earth’s entry into the Intragalactic Council,” I tell her.

  She laughs and shakes her head. “A peace deal? You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m totally serious. They kept saying, Peace, peace, peace. They really meant it.”

  “And you’re suddenly an excellent judge of Youli character?”

  “Well, not exactly—and I know they’re, like, our mortal enemies and all—but they were really convincing. And not only that, but they rescued us. There’s no way we could have escaped the rift without the Youli’s help.”

  The admiral’s expression is blank. I can’t tell whether I’m managing to convince her of the Youli’s commitment to peace. I need to make sure she believes me. It may be the only way to bring Mira home.

  There has to be a way to reach her. But this is Admiral Eames, unreadable, and pretty much unreachable. The only time I’ve ever seen a crack in her exterior is last night. “They brought Denver back! He’d still be in the rift if it weren’t for the Youli!”

  Admiral Eames folds her hands in her lap and takes a deep breath.

  Something tells me that was the wrong thing to say. I shouldn’t have brought up Denver.

  She locks eyes with me and says slowly, “Don’t presume a thing about Captain Reddy, am I understood?”

  My shoulders sink under the weight of her stare. “Yes, sir. What I mean is, the Youli said they wanted to talk peace, and to prove it, they rescued us from the rift.”