The Heroes Return Read online

  Cole rolls his eyes. “I’m the admiral’s chief military strategist. I know everything. She told me yesterday afternoon. She also told me her answer: an unequivocal no. I agree with her wholeheartedly.”

  I clench my fists beneath the table. This is not going well. I have to get things back on track. “Wait a second. Hear me out. When Mira and I—”

  “No. You won’t change my mind. All that peace, peace, peace talk—the Youli said the same thing to you on their ship when we were placing the degradation patch, remember? And since then they’ve tried to annihilate us multiple times.”

  “I know you’re busy, Cole, but if you just consider—”

  “This has nothing to do with me being busy.” Cole stands. “Come with me.”

  He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before pushing back from the table, taking his plate to the dishwasher, and heading for the exit. I stuff the uneaten yogurt squeezie into my pocket and dash after him.

  “Where are we going?” I ask once I catch up.

  “My quarters. I have something to show you.”

  “Are you sure we can’t talk about this?” I jog to keep pace with his brisk walk. He’s even faster than Jayne.

  Cole scans in all directions. “Certainly not in the hallway. Wait until we get to my room. Things will be a lot clearer.”

  We speed walk the rest of the way to the officers’ quarters, and I follow Cole to the last room on the hall. He flashes his eye at the lens pad, and the door swings open.

  Cole’s room is huge, easily twice the size of mine. Half of the room is set up as a Spartan living space—bed, bureau, trunk—without any decoration or touch of color. I suspect Cole hasn’t changed a thing since the day he was assigned these quarters.

  The other half of the room, though, is something else entirely.

  The walls aren’t really walls but seamless screens, each one filled with data and images. Multiple projections float in the space unanchored. One is clearly Earth. It rotates on an axis, spinning by Americana East, Eurasia, and all the other mega cities visible from space.

  A long, black table stretches across the room. A single chair sits behind it. The table is piled high with papers, but I can see through a gap in the clutter that the table itself is a computer console.

  “Rufus,” Cole says.

  Uh . . . what? I’m about to ask him what he’s talking about, when the room itself answers.

  “Welcome back, Captain. Your morning briefing is ready.”

  “Thanks, Rufus,” Cole says.

  “You’re most welcome, Captain,” the voice says.

  “Wait a second,” I say, “Rufus is your computer? And it calls you Captain?”

  Cole colors red and shrugs. I bet I’m the only person besides him who’s ever been in here. “Rufus was the name of my avatar on my very first combat game, Junkyard Dog Fights.”

  “You never told me you played Junkyard.”

  Cole smiles, and for a moment, it’s just like old times. “Of course I did. This one time, I tricked this old hound into burying his gold bone in my yard. He nearly bit my head off. In fact—”

  “Captain!” Rufus interrupts. “I must remind you that your morning briefing begins in fifteen minutes.”

  Cole stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Anyway, that’s enough about that. Let me show you why I brought you here. Rufus, run a summary vid of Youli conflicts over the last twelve months.”

  “Processing, Captain.”

  The projections fade, and the entire wall in front of us fills with an underwater image of Alkalinia. A flood of emotion washes over me. We almost died in that horrible poison sea. I brace myself against the doorframe and force myself to watch. “Where’d this vid come from?”

  “We have recording devices in all the bounding ships, and many of the combat officers have cameras mounted on their helmets. I just asked Rufus to pull together a montage. I want you to see what the rest of the Youli were up to while those guys paid you a visit in the rift and asked you to deliver their message.”

  The video skims through one horrifying scene after another. Youli firing at Earth Force ships. Earth Force officers drowning in the Alkalinian sea. Others being seized by their atoms and ripped apart by the Youli inside the Alk port.

  “The Youli in the rift told us there was division in their ranks,” I say. “The degradation patch we planted caused mega damage and created a splinter in their society. How do we know the Youli who did this represent the rest of their people?”

  “Keep watching,” Cole says. “Ask yourself what the right call is here: Gamble the safety of your people on what the Youli told you, or defend your planet? You can’t choose both, Jasper.”

  The image pulls away from Alkalinia into open space. As the camera zooms in on a remote bounding base, a Youli vessel materializes on-screen and starts firing. Half a dozen Earth Force officers are left dead on the bounding deck. Then it shifts to an image of the Paleo Planet and a pair of tourist hovercrafts under attack. More violence. More death. All at the hands of the Youli.

  The scene shifts again, and now the space station comes into view. I take a deep breath. What on earth happened here?

  But then the screen goes blank. “Captain! I must insist you leave immediately for your briefing! The admiral will not tolerate tardiness!”

  “Thanks, Rufus,” Cole says as he grabs his tablet. “Back to your question, Jasper. No, I won’t talk to the admiral and try to convince her to engage the Youli in peace talks. I won’t because I don’t think we should, and hopefully now you don’t either.”

  My mind scrambles to find something else to say, some fact or follow-up that will prolong the discussion, the one ticket I may have to seeing Mira again. Maybe that’s the only way. “What about Mira?”

  Cole drops his gaze and shuffles some papers on the table. “Earth Force doesn’t negotiate with its enemies, Jasper, not even when a hostage is involved. Mira knew the risks when she joined Earth Force.”

  “It’s not like she had any choice about joining Earth Force, Cole! It’s not like any of us had any choice!”

  Cole gathers up the papers and stacks them in a neat pile. “I don’t see how that’s relevant. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to my morning meeting with the admiral.”

  How can he do this to me? How can he do this to Mira? “You don’t see how it’s relevant? Come on, Cole! We’ve spent hours talking about this! We didn’t even know they were training us to be soldiers until midway through our first tour of duty!”

  “Careful, Jasper.” Cole grabs the door handle. “Disloyalty to the Force is a grave offense.”

  That’s the same thing the admiral said to me yesterday.

  “Rufus, I’m leaving,” Cole says to his room computer. “Initiate all security protocols.”

  “Aye-aye, Captain.”

  He pulls the handle and stands at the threshold, waiting for me to exit before him.

  I know once that door closes, my chance of finding Mira will practically vanish. I have to stall. “Can we meet up later? I need to know more about what I missed.”

  Cole stares past me into the hall. It’s clear he wants me to go. “You have a full day of training for the tour, Jasper. I’m sure you’ll be told everything you need to know about last year.”

  I rack my brain for something to keep him talking. “Where’s Gedney? I can’t wait to tell him about the rift. He’ll freak out, right?”

  “Gedney’s on Earth.”

  “Cool. Maybe I’ll see him on the tour. Plus, I need to talk to him about my gloves. They were lost on Alkalinia.” Not to mention, if Cole won’t intervene with the admiral, maybe Gedney will, for Mira’s sake.

  “I don’t think you’ll be needing your gloves anytime soon.”

  Wait . . . what? A Bounder with no gloves is basically useless. That confirms it. I’ve been totally sidelined.

  “You’ve been through quite an ordeal, Jasper,” Cole continues. “You need to focus on your recovery. Now I need to—
”

  “Okay, just one more thing. Can I please contact my parents? I have to let them know I’m okay. They think I’m dead, Cole. They had a funeral and everything.”

  Cole closes his eyes for a brief moment. “I know. I was there.” He checks the time. “I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for meeting me for breakfast, Jasper, but I really must go.”

  He waits until I’m fully out of his room then closes his door and tests the lock. Without another word, he turns and heads up the hallway, walking at the same fast, efficient pace as earlier this morning.

  It’s like the last hour didn’t change a thing.

  It’s like he didn’t just sell out his best friend.

  9

  AS I ROUND THE CORNER to my hall, I hear banging. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that I’m the cause of the banging—indirectly, of course. An officer stands in front of my room pounding on the door.

  He doesn’t hear me coming. I’m only a few meters away when he shouts, “Officer Adams, I really must insist that you answer your door!”

  “Hey,” I say.

  The officer jumps. “You scared me. . . . Wait a second . . . you are Jasper Adams.”

  “Yeah, I . . . uh . . . woke up early and couldn’t fall back to sleep. So I took a walk.”

  “You were supposed to wait for your escort.”

  “I’m here. You’re here. What’s the big deal?”

  The officer shakes his head like he can’t find the words. “Just come with me.”

  I follow him down the hall to the chute cube. It’s hard to shake what just happened with Cole, but I need to focus. Since Cole’s a lost cause, Lucy is probably my closest contact to the admiral. “Is Captain Dugan running the training today?”

  “The training we’re late to? I have no idea.”

  It’s clear this guy isn’t looking to bond. Doesn’t he know I’m a hero (for whatever that’s worth)? If this morning’s meeting with Cole is any measure, it’s not worth much.

  He drops me off at the same training room we met in yesterday. It’s empty other than the lost aeronauts, a few low-level officers guarding the door, and a huge breakfast spread that reminds me way too much of the fake food on Alkalinia. The Alks filled us up on our favorites at every meal, but it was all virtual—some weird combo of chemical and neurosensory input that tricked our brains into thinking we were eating chocolate chip cookies. In reality, we were chowing down on snake food laced with venom. So now I can’t eat anything without a bit of skepticism.

  I push aside the nasty memories and fill my plate. Things may be rotten, but that’s no reason to pass up donuts. I slip into a seat next to Denver.

  “Thought you’d never show, kid.” He steals a strawberry donut off my plate and takes a giant bite. “I forgot how good these were.”

  “I told you not to eat those things,” Bai says to Denver.

  “The kid’s eating ’em.”

  “The kid’s a teenager. He can eat anything.”

  Denver shoves the rest of the donut in his mouth and raises his hands like he never had it in the first place.

  “Have you been here a long time?” I ask them.

  “Long enough.” Bai gives Denver a knowing look.

  Denver finishes chewing then takes a long swig of juice. “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of the kid, Bai. He knows who we’re dealing with.”

  I’m not sure what we’re talking about, but I’m curious. Maybe the lost aeronauts aren’t such a dead end on info after all.

  “Does this have anything to do with the guards not letting us out of their sight?” I ask.

  “You have Denver to thank for that,” Bai says. “Like I told you yesterday, he can’t keep his mouth shut, especially when he thinks someone’s got the facts wrong.”

  Denver waves his hand dismissively. “Ignore her, kid. We’d be on lockdown no matter what. The Force can’t afford to have their precious Lost Heroes get a whiff of what’s really going on around here.”

  The door bangs open and in walks Lucy and her PR entourage. Jayne comes in last, loaded up with tablets.

  “Good morning, heroes!” Lucy says to the room. She circles the table, stopping to give each of us an air kiss (except for Denver—she gives him an actual kiss, and if he hadn’t turned his head at the last minute, I’m pretty sure it would have been a big, juicy smack on the lips). Jayne follows Lucy, giving each of us a tablet.

  Lucy takes her place at the head of the table. “Exciting news! We worked late into the night putting the finishing touches on the script for the Lost Heroes Homecoming Tour rallies. Everything is pretty and polished! Jayne, could you please load it up on the screen so we can follow along?”

  Jayne fiddles with her own tablet, and soon the wall behind Lucy flickers and fills with the Earth Force insignia. Jayne slides her finger across the screen, and the giant EF is replaced with the graphic for the Lost Heroes Homecoming Tour.

  “Fabulous,” Lucy says. “First things first. Every show starts with a great story. And if I do say so myself, the story of your daring rescue is one of the best we’ve ever created. We’ve already circulated this vid clip to the webs.” She nods at Jayne, and the room fills with the sound of a deep male voice announcing the return of the beloved lost aeronauts.

  Denver shoots me a look. What’s this all about? I shrug.

  The voice-over continues, recounting the story of the Incident at Bounding Base 51. So far, this is all old news (even if the news is a bit incomplete). The screen shows images of the old aeronauts waving good-bye from the bounding deck.

  Then the screen flashes through headlines from the failed bound fifteen years ago. Finally, the images fade, and what is left is an image of a Youli bounding ship. The voice picks back up: “What we know now . . . what’s been revealed by our heroes . . . is that the Incident at Bounding Base 51 wasn’t a terrible mistake; it was an attack by our alien enemy.”

  Wow. The truth finally comes out. Well, kind of. Earth Force definitely isn’t owning up to knowing about the Youli attack all those years ago.

  “The Youli took our beloved aeronauts hostage,” the voice-over continues.

  Wait a second . . . what?

  Next to me, Denver grips the edge of the table like he’s about to launch himself up and over.

  “Our dear aeronauts were held prisoner on the Youli home world for fifteen years. Then the miraculous happened. The Youli attacked again, this time taking two young Bounders hostage. But these Bounders were ready. They used their skills and wielded their advanced technology to thwart the Youli. One paid the ultimate price. The other, Jasper Adams, brought the lost aereonauts home.”

  Denver pushes to his feet. “I’ve heard enough. Turn it off!”

  “Come on, Den.” Lucy tips her head and smiles. “This story is absolutely riveting.”

  “That. Did. Not. Happen.” Denver’s jaw is clenched, and his hands are balled into fists.

  I’m still playing the words back in my head. Finally, it all clicks into place. “Paid the ultimate price? Is part of the story that Mira died?”

  Lucy’s lips turn down, and I swear her eyes fill with tears. “I’m so sorry, Jasper.”

  I jump up next to Denver. “But it’s not true! She’s not dead! The Youli have her!”

  The door to the conference room clicks shut. “It’s true now.”

  I turn around. Denver spins so fast, he almost loses his balance. Neither of us knew Admiral Eames was standing at the door. She must have come in when the vid clip was playing.

  “Cora, this is absurd!” Denver says. “I refuse to be a part of it!”

  “You’ll refer to me as Admiral,” she replies, crossing the room to join Lucy at the front. “I know this is difficult, but it’s necessary. We’re at war, and one of our greatest weapons is propaganda. If we’re to defeat the Youli, we need the support of our people. This story is how that support is secured.”

  “But why not go with the truth?” I ask.

  “How do
you suggest we do that?” Admiral Eames asks. “How do we explain to the Earth people why these aeronauts haven’t aged a day? They know the Youli have advanced technology. They’ll blame it on our enemy. It’s the easiest explanation.”

  “Tell them about the rift!” I say.

  “Absolutely not. Knowledge that the rift exists is top-level security clearance only. We may be able to use the rift for our own military purposes at some point in the future. More important, however, is that our intelligence confirms not all the Youli know how the lost aeronauts got back. You were right about one thing, Officer Adams. There’s division within the Youli ranks. We’re not about to hand them secrets on a silver platter.”

  I can’t believe they want us to tell this ridiculous lie! And I can’t believe that almost everyone in the room is nodding in agreement, like what the admiral said makes perfect sense! How come I get the feeling that Denver and I and maybe Bai are the only ones who think this is a horrible idea? Why don’t the other lost aeronauts speak up? Is following orders more important than the truth?

  “What about Mira?” I ask.

  Before the admiral can reply, Lucy hops up. “It’s all about the narrative! All of Earth already knows you and Mira! Having you both be featured in this story—you as the young hero, and Mira as the martyr—just adds to the drama! They’ll eat it up!”

  “What do you mean they already know us?”

  “Like I told you, you’re our poster boy, Jasper! And Mira is our poster girl!” She waves a hand at Jayne. “Pull up the images.”

  Jayne pokes around on her tablet. First, the screen is filled with the image I saw yesterday of me with the words PROTECTING OUR PLANET COMES AT A PRICE superimposed over my face. The image slides to the left, and a second slides in beside it. It’s a picture of Mira. Her long blond braid is pulled over her left shoulder, and she stares off to the side. These three words are printed on the bottom: BEAUTY. COURAGE. SACRIFICE.

  I keep rereading the words beneath Mira’s face, but they don’t make any sense. “What are these?”

  Lucy nods at Jayne. “They’re part of our pro-Bounder propaganda campaign,” Jayne says quietly. “These images have been all over the webs for close to a year. Physical posters were distributed across the planet.”