Stealing Icarus - Chapter 10

 

Chapter 10: 

       Liam's POV: 

    With a gasp, my eyes fly open and I shudder. The cold air hits me like a blow and I strain for warmth. My head feels cloudy and muffled like I was underwater for too long. A sharp ringing pain went through my head and it felt like the pain was throbbing and pulsing. My hands dug into my hair and I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh air. 

My mouth tasted like copper and it was as dry as sandpaper. Finally, I look around and immediately panic because everything seems vaguely similar but not the same. Then I realize that I’m in the infirmary, just not in my own ship. The ships had the same designs but it was tiny telltale signs that told me this wasn’t my own ship. Like the fact that Lee, our workaholic medic wasn’t here typing into his computer. That must mean I’m either on Beta or Alpha. The white walls are adorned with tiny stars and suddenly I’m hit with a flash of the past. 

Images of drawing maps with my teammates. Of suddenly becoming drowsy. I remember the feeling of having my limbs become heavy and drugged. I remembered Finn who was trying to dial the other ships, trying to tell them that something was wrong but being met with a connection issue. I remembered how I sank to my knees, my thoughts blurring as my friends dropped to the ground beside me. 

Shaking myself out of that disturbing reverie, I let out a tight breath and swung my legs over the side of the cot. I stand up, my knees wobbling, and I immediately regret it as the blood rushes to my head, making my already muddled head even worse. I fling my hand and grasp the edge of a desk. I take another breath, forcing the dancing edges of my vision to stay still. 

The door flies open and a group of chattering people walk in. Some were arguing while others were silent and were displaying an array of emotions on their faces. A face was impassive and unfeeling while another person had bloodshot eyes and messy hair. I recognized the one that looked like a sleep-deprived person as Nate, Finn’s best friend and the captain of the Alpha ship. That answered my question on what ship I was on at least. My gut twinged as I wondered what had happened to my teammates. Why was I here? Where was everyone else? 

A girl with colorful hair steps forward and has a tablet in her hand. She clears her throat and extends a hand outward, presumably for me to shake. I grasp her hand and shake it once. 

She smiles and drags a chair out from behind the desk. She sits down and says, “Hi, I’m Lucia, the medic for Alpha ship. I’m going to run some tests on you okay?”

I nod hesitantly and Lucia smiled, 

“Great. Do you remember anything? Can you tell me your name?” 

I nod again and open my dry mouth, “My name’s Liam, and yes I remember what happened, though it’s a bit blurry.” Lucia, noticing my rough voice, passes me a cup of water. I grab it eagerly and drink it gratefully. I notice that everyone is watching me and I scratch my neck self-consciously. 

Lucia smiles kindly and runs the normal tests, and I watch her scribble on the tablet with a white pen that moves like fluid. Once she’s done, she tells me that I should feel fine and gives me a peculiar green drink that’ll rid me of my drowsiness. 

I grasp the flask and bring it to my lips. The scalding liquid goes down burning my throat and soothing it at the same time. I stand up again and this time, the world doesn’t spin on its axis.

Nate clears his throat and says, “Can you tell us what happened?”

I lift a hand up and ask, “First I want to know what happened to my friends.” 

He frowns and says mirthlessly, “You didn’t know? They’re all gone. You’re the only survivor.” 

I freeze and stare at Nate with widened eyes. What? I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. I collapse onto the cot again and Lucia yells something at Nate, who yells back at her. I slam my hand on the desk, making a loud enough noise that everyone calms down. 

I cover my face with my hand and say muffled, “I’ll tell you what I remember.” 

And I do. I tell them all about how Devin and I were drawing maps in one of the rooms on the ship when Finn had called us to the cockpit. I tell them about how Finn insisted we all take a day off since none of us had slept since we last caught a glimpse of light. When we were about to go back to the dorms, the ship slammed into some invisible force and we all fell backward. Finn, immediately sensing something wrong, called Alpha ship but was met with an error. I told them all about how we dropped to the floor and lost consciousness. 

Everyone in front of me has similar expressions, all etched with horror as Lucia makes a noise at the back of her throat. 

“You said an invisible force? Was it the limit line?”

The limit line was like the equator. We couldn’t see it but we knew that the line was as far the Enchanters had permitted us to go. A step farther and we would be gone in a matter of seconds. The whole point of this mission was to find a way around the limit line and to come back with a star. A mission that had cost my friends' lives.

“No, we were nowhere near the line. You know that since you found us.”

“True, but what other force could there be?” I shrug since there isn’t any other thing that could have stopped us. However, something in my gut told me it wasn’t the limit line. 

Nate clears his throat and says,

“Why don’t we all just go back to our dorms and take some time off? We obviously need it and Liam, you can take my bed.” I begin to protest because he already looks like the devil, but he takes none of it and pretends as though I hadn’t spoken. 

I stand up again, and Nate leads me to the dorm room. We walk past the same winding halls adorned with doors that our ship had as well until finally, we reach the boy’s dorm. 

Nate opens the door awkwardly and says, '“Well, this is it.” 

“Look, I can sleep in the infirmary, you don’t have to give me your bed.” 

Nate manages a small smile and shakes his head, “No, it wouldn’t feel right to me.” 

Sensing that there was no way to dissuade him, I walked inside the room and collapsed onto the soft bed, finally getting some sleep that wasn’t drug-induced. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I fiddled with the paper in my hands and looked up at Nithya and Shravya who asked me to come to the cockpit. 

Nithya cleared her throat and asked, “Can you describe what happened when you crashed into this ‘invisible force’ ?”

“Uh, yeah sure,” I cleared my throat, “I wasn’t in the cockpit when it happened so I can’t exactly give you a proper feeling, but it was like we had crashed into a force field of sorts, and bounded back. The force caused us all to fall back and then it felt like we were drugged. Like anesthesia, but deadly. As you know, I was the only survivor.” With an impending sense of survivor’s guilt, but I don’t mention that to her. 

Nithya hums and clicks her pen, “The survivor thing is confusing our medic, Lucia, as she doesn’t know why you were able to suppress the effects of this ‘drug’.”

I shrug and Shravya clears her throat, “Let’s talk about something else.”

Shravya points towards the map I had in my hands and I saw that there was a blue dot that marked the spot where they had spotted my ship. 

“We’re nearing the spot where your ship was when it crashed. Obviously, we aren’t going to the actual spot, given what happened to your ship, but we might send a few robots to see what happens to them and to see if they could collect some samples from both the crash site and the normal air to compare.” 

I nodded, unsure what this had to do with me. 

Shravya sighed, “Can you direct Scarlet towards the right area to send the robots? I mean, you don’t have to if you aren’t ready, since we’ll be there as well and-”

I raised a hand, stopping Shravya from rambling, and said, “I’ll help.”

She beamed, “Great! I’ll find Scarlet and tell her to set up the robots! Do you want to come with me?” 

“Sure,” I said with a small smile. Shravya held the cockpit door open for me and I walked through, my shoes slapping against the cold floor. 

We walked in silence for a short while before coming across Scarlet who was punching keys on a controller, trying to win against the computer opponent in the game. A lock of dark hair fell in her face, but she blew it away aggressively and I watched in amusement as she muttered something beneath her breath, unaware that we were behind her. 

As if she heard my thoughts, she turned around with widened eyes. I cracked a laugh and a hint of blush colored her cheeks. I laughed even harder at that and she rolled her eyes. She snapped her fingers and the hologame that she was playing shut off. She tossed the controller to the side and it landed on a fluffy pillow. She gets up and slides the headphones she was previously wearing onto her neck. She shoves her hands into the pocket of her bright red sweater and looks up at us. 

“What’s up?” She asks. 

Shravya answers, “Can you and Liam set up the robots for when we go to the crash site?” 

“Oh yeah sure.” She says and scratches the back of her neck. I smile and Shravya says, 

“Great. Take Liam to the room and I'll go back to the cockpit?” Scarlet smiles and gives a thumbs up. Shravya grins in return and says, 

“Comm me when the are robots ready!” 

“Will do.” Scarlet replies. Shravya waves and walks back to the cockpit with her hands in her pockets and humming a vague tune under her breath. 

Scarlet turns to me and says, “I’ll show you the way. It’s not far from here,” I nod and follow her as she opens the door and holds it open for me. 

I walk over and thank her for holding the door and she mumbles something that sounds like “no problem”. We walk side by side for a few minutes before reaching a black door. 

She pushes it open and I see two long tables with a gap between them. There was a countertop attached to one of the walls along with an array of cabinets that were bolted to the wall a foot or two above the smooth countertop. I noticed that there was a sink embedded in the countertop and two clear boxes. One box held multiple gloves, goggles, and clear masks. The other box was sturdier and held an array of precarious chemicals. There was a lining between the chemicals in the box so they wouldn’t mix and cause an explosion. 

Scarlet opened the first box and slid on a pair of white gloves and gestured for me to come over there. I walked over and she handed me a pair of gloves. I pulled them over my palm and the material wrapped around my fingers, feeling weightless. 

Scarlet grabs a pair of goggles and slides them over her head. She fiddles with them until they settle over her nose and provide her a clear field of vision. I take a pair of my own and place them over my eyes. 

Scarlet walks over to the end of the countertop and pulls a cabinet door open. She carefully reaches out and takes out two small white robots. Along with the robots she takes out a black tablet. 

She sets the small robots on one of the long tables and turns on the tablet. I see her gloved fingers tap the screen and the robots make a whirring sound and light up. I see the tablet glow green and I come closer to the robots. 

"Awww they’re so cute,” I say, prodding at the robots with an outstretched arm. 

Scarlet laughs and cracks a smile, “That one’s 4-18 and the second one is 4-20.” 

I frown, “What happened to 4-19?” 

She winced, “Sometimes you should listen to the instructions.” 

I raised an eyebrow and said, “We should rename them. Numbers are not sufficient.” 

“Why not?” 

“They deserve real names!” Scarlet snorted and pointed to the box holding the interesting chemicals,

 “Think of names while you grab that box over there.”

I walk over and look at the box carefully before gingerly taking it into my arms. The unexpected weight catches me off guard and I almost drop the box. I look over my shoulder and sigh in relief when I see that Scarlet hadn’t noticed my almost tumble. 

I balance myself and carry the box back to Scarlet and place it on the table. She doesn’t look at me but gives a thumbs up. I watch her as she takes a screwdriver and unscrews a few nails in the neck of the robot. She takes the plating off and places the end of the screwdriver in her mouth. 

“Need any help?” I ask. She holds up a hand as if telling me to wait. I fiddle with my fingers and she tweaks the wiring inside of 4-18. Wires of multiple colors are now visible since the outside plating is removed. Scarlet changes some of the wiring and then places the plating back on. She takes the screwdriver out of her mouth and screws the nails back in. 

She checks to make sure the screws are properly tightened and then sets the screwdriver on the table. 

“You know your chemicals right?” I nodded confidently. Magellan Academy had drilled the basics in every student. 

She listed a few chemicals and told me how to prepare the samples. I gave her a mock salute and took out the said chemicals. I poured them into beakers and mixed them slowly in order to not invoke an explosion. I looked over and saw Scarlet do the same thing as before, except with 4-20 this time. 

When the solution was ready I stopped stirring and Scarlet finished with 4-20 at the same time. She looked over my shoulder and split the clear solution into two vials. 

“Can you get two tablets from that jar?” She asks, pointing to a glass jar sitting on the countertop. 

“Yeah sure.” I get up and walk back over to the countertop. I unscrew the lid and take two of the round tablets into my gloved hand. 

I walk back to Scarlet and hand her the tablets. She takes them and drops them into the vials with a satisfying fizzle. I watch as the tablets dissolve in the solution and the clear liquid turns white. 

Scarlet turns to me, “We have to put these vials into 4-18 and 4-20 before we send them into the crash site. Using the solution we made, 4-18 will collect samples from outside of the crash site and 4-20 will collect from inside.”

“Will 4-20 be able to withstand whatever happened to us there?” 

Scarlet pursed her lips, “I don’t think so, but we’ll get the samples we’ll need.” 

“How can we tell the difference?”

“Well, if there’s any magical activity in the crash site the solution will turn blue, and if it’s untainted it’ll remain white.” 

I nodded and Scarlet handed me a vial. She pressed a button on 4-20 and a small hole appeared. Scarlet closed the vial tightly and slid the vial inside 4-20. It closed once the vial went inside completely and I did the same to 4-18. 

Once we were done, Scarlet turned her comms on and said, 

“The robots are ready. We’re heading to the cockpit now.” She nodded to something I couldn’t hear since I didn’t have a set of comms and signed off. 

“Will you carry 4-18 there?” 

“Of course. I’m already emotionally attached to her. Still haven’t thought of the perfect name though.” 

Scarlet laughed and lifted 4-20 into her arms. I did the same and opened the door. We walked back to the cockpit with 4-18 and 4-20 in our arms. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“How are they doing?” Nithya asked, momentarily taking her eyes off of the screen. 

“Good for now. 4-20’s nearing the crash site.” Scarlet mumbles. 

I sigh and ask, “Is it bad of me to ask how much longer it’ll take? I feel like 4-20 and 4-18 have spent forever moving inch by inch.”

“That wasn’t just me?” Rani asks, putting her feet up on the back of Jay’s chair.

We were all in the cockpit and we had sent 4-20 and 4-18 out into space about 10 minutes ago. It felt as if an eternity had passed by while watching two dots on the screen move tiny spaces forward. 

Scarlet frowned and said, “Yeah I slowed the speed level down because it’s less likely for 4-20 to get damaged while entering the crash site. It is taking longer though.” 

“Oh,” Jerry said while rubbing his eyes. He was up all night attending to the left-wing. 

“Wait, 4-20’s entered the crash site. Nithya zoom in on Area 378.” Nithya did as she was told and we saw a close-up view of 4-20’s location. 

Lucia raised a hand, “Is it just me or does our crash site look like any other normal piece of starless space?” 

“It’s not just you. The samples just came in and they look exactly the same. No magic was involved and nothing different.”

Silence ensued. If nothing was different then what had happened to my friends? There had to be some explanation and I wasn’t leaving until I got one.

“What if what had happened to Gamma was just a freak accident?” Murmurs of agreement flew around and I straightened. 

“No. It wasn’t a freak accident! How do you explain the fact that all of us were drugged? How do you explain the fact the lines cut out right when Finn was trying to call you? This wasn’t an accident. This was a planned murder.” 

Scarlet flinched and everyone looked shocked at my outburst. To be honest. So was I, but I needed answers and not comforting lies.

I got up from my clammy chair and walked out of the cockpit. Unsurprisingly, no one followed. 

I let the door slam behind me and I practically ran to the boy’s dorm, trying to get there before the tears burning behind my eyes started to fall. 

I opened the door and collapsed onto Nate’s bed and the tears I had distracted myself from the whole day, finally came in body-wracking sobs. I missed my crew and all we had done. I missed waking up to utter chaos and chattering people. It didn’t help that the ships had the same layout. I kept expecting Mikayla to come out of the cockpit arguing with Finn, good-naturedly. I crawled into a fetal position, with my knees below my chin and my arms wrapped around my legs. I cried myself to a cold and unwavering sleep. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    I tossed and turned all night until I couldn’t take it anymore and I sat up in my bed. I looked around and saw Jay and Jerry sleeping in their separate bunks. They snored a bit but then again, who didn’t? 

Carefully, I stepped down from my bed and set my feet on my cold metal ground. A shiver went through me and I pushed it away. I walked over to the door, trying not to make any sound and I placed my hand on the cold doorknob. 

Looking back once more, I made sure that they were still asleep before twisting the door open. I highly regretted my decision of not grabbing my pair of shoes, but I couldn’t go back now. I needed some answers and I would be going back to the Science Room. 

I walked cautiously in order to avoid encountering anyone else. I recalled my way to the Science Room and walked through the winding halls, finally coming across the familiar black door. 

I opened the door with a slight creak and I froze in my tracks. No one had come out of their rooms so I was still good. I stepped inside the Science Room silently. 

On top of one of the two long tables, was 4-18 and 4-20 with their lights turned off and the tablet beside them. I walked over and placed my hand over 4-18’s head and turned on the tablet. Recalling what Scarlet had punched in to turn the robots on, I tapped in the password and the robots came to life. 

I grinned and looked at 4-18 and 4-20 who’s lights had turned green and were blinking rapidly. I looked down at the tablet and realized that the blinking lights meant that something was wrong. 

I crouched down and looked closely at 4-18 who swiveled around and turned to 4-20. 

“Something’s wrong with 4-20?” I whispered. At that, 4-18 stopped blinking and I took that as a yes. I turned towards 4-20 who’s lights were still blinking green.

I poked at 4-20 and she turned around. Frowning for a second, I pressed the button we used earlier to insert the vials. The vial came out and dropped into my hands, but something was wrong. 

    The vial in here wasn’t white. It was clear, like the original solution. This wasn’t the vial we had sent out into space to collect the samples.

    My heart pounded as I unscrewed the lid and poured it back into a beaker. I grabbed the mircolense with my clammy hands and slipped it into my eye like a pair of contact lenses.

    We had gotten ridden of those bulky microscopes long ago and replaced them with these small contact lenses that allowed us to view the object at the cellular level. 

I zoomed in with the mircolense and my heart stopped. This vial was a decoy and it was giving the same sample results as 4-18 without actually taking the samples.

    Someone had switched the vials before we sent them both to space, but who? Everyone had examined the robots before we sent them out to space and they were all equipped with the knowledge in order to create a solution like this. 

My breath was coming in short pants and my heart was throbbing in my chest. Why would someone do this in the first place? Millions of scenarios flew through my head and I gasped as I came to a plausible one. 

I quickly went over to 4-18 and pressed the button with shaking hands. If this was true, then we were all in an incredible amount of danger. The vial in 4-18 dropped into my hands and I quickly examined it. This vial was untouched and was sending the correct samples. 4-20 was the only one that was tampered with. 

I found a chair and sat down on it, taking a moment to breathe and think this through. I ran my hands through my hair and I took a deep breath. 

4-20 was sent into space, tasked to retrieve samples from the crash site to compare with the sample from normal space. The vials held solutions that would turn blue if they detected any magical substance. The only reason someone would tamper with the solution was if they knew that magic was involved and didn’t want to be caught. That meant that someone on this ship was actively working against Magellan and was under the thumb of the City of Luminance’s Enchanters. 

These revelations spun around in my head, muddling my thoughts and I let out a breath. I needed air, that would clear my head. 

    Almost wildly, I got up from the chair and ran out of the room, not bothering to conceal the traces. Remembering where the balcony was on my own ship, I ran past the suffocating halls with suspicions leaking into my thoughts. 

I threw open the balcony door and opened my mouth to scream at the sight in front of me. It was as if someone had placed a hand over my mouth and was suppressing my horror, but no such hand was there. I recognized the force as magic. Magic was wrapped around my throat and robbed me of my voice. I looked up in terror at the sight in front of me. 

Tendrils of darkness held up a hooded figure in the air. The hooded figure turned and my heart turned into a battering ram in my chest as I recognized the face. A swirling green snake tattoo writhed on their face and I recognized it from the textbooks as the mark the Enchanters had. They was an Enchanter?

Fear became a tangible, living force that crept over me like a hungry beast,  immobilizing me and my thought process. The pulse beating in my ears, blocked all other sounds as the magic lifted me up and brought me to eye level with the traitor. 

I thrashed and flailed to no avail as they used magic to hold me in place only a few feet above the balcony. My head throbbed as I tried to resist the magic and scream as the shadows crept over me and brought me over the rail. 

They were going to drop me, I realized with a sob. At least I didn’t have to deal with survivor's guilt anymore. The morbid thought brought an onslaught of tears as they let go of their magic and I fell into space without being able to warn everyone else.