Nyteria Rising (The Thirteenth Series Book 3) Read online

  “Can you turn it off? It’s getting a little warm in here.” Boden asked.

  “Yes, sorry.” Val took a breath to calm down. Now she had her special weapon and a little respect from Hadwyn, she could let her flames go out.

  “Next, no one should see you when you’re working.” Boden pointed to his face and in a split second, a black helmet extended from his uniform, and enveloped his head.

  “Amazing!” Val reached out to touch it. “Do I have one?” The helmet retracted and Boden nodded.

  Hadwyn chipped in enthusiastically, “Just see yourself wearing your helmet.” He seemed to be getting excited at the possibility of having a human flame thrower to play with.

  Val closed her eyes and imagined she was wearing a helmet. After a moment she opened them again tentatively and was amazed to find something like a computer screen surrounding her head. It was like she had shoved her head into a darkened fishbowl, she could see at all angles quite clearly. She wished Jason was there. “Hello.” A voice said into her ear. She looked around turning and twisting. “Val it’s me, Boden. We will all be able to communicate through our helmets without being heard or detected. We can also monitor your vital signs through your suit and keep you cool in hot places and vise-versa.”

  “Right,” Val nodded. “How do I get it off?” Even as she asked the question, the helmet shot back.

  “Just like that,” he replied. He looked down at his watch and then up at Val. “I don’t want you to panic, but we need to leave. We will have some time after the journey to talk, but the clock is ticking and two other groups have already left.”

  This was much faster than she had expected. Sam had made it sound like they were just going to hang out on the Prison for a few days. “I’m supposed to be meeting Wendy for dinner and Sam for pudding…” she was never going to get that pudding, “…but hey, now I have a sword and him,” she pointed at Hadwyn. “What could go wrong?”

  “They’ll be informed of the basics, don’t worry.” Boden opened a new exit to her left. “Val, helmet on.” She followed orders as Hadwyn tapped her helmet with his gun, making it quite clear he was prepared to stun her if necessary to get the desired effect.

  “Get off.” She pushed his hand away. Her helmet in place, she made her way out, unsure of what would be waiting for her behind the door.

  CHAPTER 4

  Primary Portal

  Boden led the way, Hadwyn behind and Val tucked in neatly at the back. She was tense, on edge, but at the same time strangely relieved to have them with her. They walked a short distance and then came to a halt in front of a glass door. Val could see three more figures inside, dressed like her. “Are they Magrafe?” she asked.

  “Yes, we must wait here until it’s our turn. The High Collector will be instructing them on their mission and will send them on.”

  Hadwyn stood waiting on one side, Boden on the other. She felt a little like Madonna going for a jog. Suddenly the glass door went misty and when it cleared the three figures had gone. Boden stepped forward, the woman looked towards them and the door whooshed open.

  “Welcome to the primary portal. It’s so nice to meet you at last, Val. Your Collector speaks highly of your bravery.”

  Val nodded blushing inside her helmet. “Is she ok? I haven’t seen her.”

  “She’s well.” The woman smiled warmly at her, making her feel a little more relaxed. “Now we must get on with your instructions. Boden, as always you will lead your group. Hadwyn, you are being warned to conduct yourself in an appropriate manner. I don’t want to have to deal with the paper work you left me with last time.”

  “In my defence, she was crazy and wouldn’t shut up before I stunned her,” he shrugged his shoulders.

  “You always have an answer and after two hundred years, they are wearing thin young man.” She looked sternly at him as if at the end of her tether. Yet Val sensed she wasn’t as angry as she sounded. “As you know, the Warden has been taken and I can now confirm our suspicions were correct, it was the new leader of Nyteria, Nathan Akar, who took him. Let me make this very clear, Nathan Akar is ruthless. He takes no prisoners and stands for no questions over his actions or authority. He has informed us he wants the power from the Prison and there is no other option. At this moment your job is simply to retrieve the Warden.”

  She lifted a tiny hand and a transparent screen appeared between them. She pointed to a flashing red spot. “We have been informed that the Warden is being held here, in sector thirty-four, under heavy guard. This map has been programmed into your suits. The atmosphere on Nyteria matches that on the Prison, so if you do have to remove your helmet there’s no need to concern yourselves. You will now be teleported to sector thirty-two where you will be met by one of our guides. They will give you coordinates for your departure point. Do not return without the Warden.” Her expression now was as serious as Val imagined it could be. “Boden, Hadwyn, you have with you the girl from the vision. She is the one who is prophesised to free the Warden. You are to protect her with your lives, do you understand?”

  They nodded and Val felt relieved that they would look after her, but concerned that one of them might get hurt because of her. “Can you please do something for me before I leave?” Val asked politely.

  “What?”

  “Can you please tell my Collector that if anything happens to me, could she please send a message to Zac, my Hunter.” Val could feel a lump in her throat as she spoke, “Could you tell him to tell my Mum and Dad that I love them.” Her voice broke and she was silent.

  “I will do that for you, Val. We know you are just a child in comparison to these Guards and we thank you for taking such risks to help protect us when, as a collective we may not have been so kind in return. Now go and do what your friend saw in her vision and I will be here to greet you on your return.”

  The Collector moved to one side to reveal the shimmering portal. Val was sure it hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. Boden stepped into it and Hadwyn followed. Then it was her turn. She stood for a second, looking at her reflection in the shimmer. She looked like a wobbly version of the bikers outside Shane’s tattoo parlour. ‘Note to self – make sure no one sees me like this at home.’ She stepped into the portal and was off.

  Her landing was surprisingly good. She didn’t hit any walls or land on top of the others which made her feel a whole lot better. They would respect her more for being in control and she was sure Zac would have been proud. She took in her surroundings through the visor of her helmet. Although she could just see the dimly lit room, it still felt odd and it was hard to focus with all the flashing lights and signals. Although she genuinely had no idea what they meant, she surmised that the red dot in the distance was the Warden. She jumped as Hadwyn walked in front of her.

  “Calm down,” he protested.

  “Sorry.” He was right - she did need to calm down. Looking around she could see they had arrived in a room that resembled a wartime bunker, concrete on all sides. Her dad had shown her one at some military museum once and told her how, when he was little, they had had one in the garden.

  “Val, are you ok?” Boden asked.

  “Yes. Where are we?”

  Hadwyn groaned. “Were you not listening to the High Collector? Sector thirty-two.” He shook his head dismissively. “I hope you listen more now we’re here.” He raised his hand and a beam of light radiated from his wrist, illuminating the area. “I knew the number,” she grunted annoyed that he thought she meant that.

  “We’re on Nyteria, Val, and are now in an amber zone. That means we’re in danger, but not in the main sector yet.” Boden switched on his light, shining it around the closed area.

  “Thank you.” She was grateful someone was going to answer her questions properly.

  He took her hand and lifted her wrist. She felt it click and her light appeared. “We must move quickly, the agent meeting us will be above ground waiting.”

  Hadwyn had reached a doorway; he placed his hand on th
e electronic pad.

  Val watched as it started to frazzle under his palm and the door popped open. “How did he do that?”

  “Explanations when we are safe back on the Prison,” Boden responded as they moved out. They started to jog up what Val saw was a narrow concrete corridor leading to a staircase. She hoped they weren’t going to jog up the stairs. She was wrong and by the time they reached the exit she was struggling to breathe.

  “Are you ok? Your vitals aren’t looking so good.” There was concern in Boden’s question.

  “Fine – just – need – to – recover,” she gasped.

  Hadwyn laughed as he disintegrated another keypad on the door, followed by more smoke. She could hear the bolts unlocking and a gush of air escaping as it opened. What would be waiting for them? This was her first mission on an alien planet. Nothing Mrs Sawyer had taught her in geography could have prepared her for this. The men moved out without hesitation and she followed. Would there be trees, birds? Questions seemed to be rushing full speed through her mind. What if there were dinosaurs? As they made it clear of the exit she could now see that it was simply night time. The stars above looked similar to the ones she had seen from Earth, yet there was an odd stillness. She sensed something was missing, but couldn’t put her finger on it. They moved quickly onto a large sandy area. There was nothing to see, no trees, no green and no visible life. She felt almost disappointed at the lack of view.

  “Where’s our contact?” Hadwyn moaned clearly frustrated, marching backwards and forwards.

  “Be patient, Hadwyn.” Boden was confident. She could see why he was in charge.

  Suddenly there was a rustling on the ground and as Val glanced down she saw something moving through the sand. “Floor… snake!” She spluttered at the men. Holding her breath in fear she might scream and it would hear her. The rustling collected together and started to form a silhouette. She watched as it rose higher and higher. It was a good seven feet tall as the last grains gathered and came to a halt. To her surprise and relief, Val could make out the form of a man. His skin was a strange mottled shade of brown with flecks and his eyes were yellow and glowing.

  “Welcome to Nyteria. How was your journey? I hear…,” he hissed.

  Boden interrupted. “Less of the formalities, let’s get to sector thirty-four.”

  The creature nodded respectfully and they started to move again. Val noticed quickly that although the man looked like he was walking, his feet never actually left the sand. It was as if they were one and the same, he creeped her out.

  Their guide informed them that they were entering sector thirty-three. Boden warned them that they had now entered a red zone and that they all needed to be alert. Val stayed as close as she could to Hadwyn; he seemed crazy enough to save her. Plus, she wasn’t prepared to get lost on some random planet where the population came out of the ground you walked on. She was just about to ask how far the next sector was when Boden raised his hand. She knew it was the sign she had been waiting for. No one spoke and as her eyes scanned what had been a dark path, she realised that there was now a glow on the horizon. They moved lower to the ground. The man who had been guiding them sunk naturally up to his waist. Val felt disturbed lying on what he was made of. What if someone grabbed them from underneath? She raised herself up a little.

  “This is sector thirty-four. Upload this information.” He handed Boden a card. “Your maps and directions for collection are all here. We will meet in the designated teleporting bay in one hour. It will be your only chance to leave. As soon as you have your package they will close all exits. We will only be able to sustain the power for that time. Do you understand?”

  “Completely,” said Boden placing the card onto his suit. Val’s screen lit up again, numbers and images whizzing past her eyes.

  “Safe passage.” The creature sunk into the ground.

  “Ready?” Boden asked her. She nodded and they all started to crawl towards the top of the mound. He signalled for them to stop just short of the crest.

  “Val, you need to stay really close to me. You’re going to see things that aren’t normal to your human eyes. Just tell one of us if you are concerned.” She nodded. “Hadwyn, we need to get rid of the soldiers nearest the green sector.” As he said green sector, that was what popped onto her screen. She could see several entrances and two marked clearly in green. “Do a perimeter check. Find which one will be easiest to access.” Boden ordered. Val lay still next to him as Hadwyn shimmered out of view.

  “How does he, and you for that matter, do the disappearing act?” she whispered.

  “It’s a little bit like teleporting I guess, but you don’t go anywhere.” Boden was clearly half listening and half waiting to hear back from his partner.

  “So could I do it?” she asked tentatively, not sure if she wanted to disappear from view, but on the other hand it might come in handy.

  Boden’s helmet turned towards her. “You can, there is so much we can teach you and you will learn it all in time. For now, let’s just finish our task. You can learn new tricks when we get back to the Prison.”

  She nodded. “Ok.”

  Hadwyn’s voice filled her helmet. “Five soldiers here, another five on each intersection. They aren’t taking any risks. Second option is a go for green.” Val’s visor automatically zoomed in on the far green entrance. “They seem to have some sort of aerial surveillance as well. I’m going to check it out.”

  “Will you be able to clear sector two on your own?”

  “With pleasure,” he laughed.

  “Go for it. See you inside.” This was it, they were going in. She mustn’t let nerves get the better of her. She had been through worse. She had stood on a plane with a bomb, fought Excariot… “Move,” Boden instructed, interrupting her pep-talk. Boden reached back for his bow and nodded at Val as he rose slightly to come over the rise of the mound they had been hiding behind. She followed without extending her sword, not sure she could even do it again without Hadwyn pointing a stun gun at her head. She wouldn’t miss him when she got back to Earth – IF she got back to Earth.

  “Stay close,” he ordered.

  She caught her breath as she saw the true landscape of this alien planet. It wasn’t what she had expected. Having arrived in darkness and moved through what had resembled an Earth desert, she had expected more sand and the odd palm tree. The glow of light she had seen on the horizon was coming from humming generator-style lights on the ground. Not just in front of them, but continuing for what looked like miles, dotted intermittently into the distance. But the thing that blew her away even more was the towers. They rose out of the ground to what looked like fifty or a hundred stories high. She felt enclosed by the sheer volume of dead empty metal and concrete. What felt wrong was the fact the buildings were in darkness, completely blacked out. “What is this place?”

  “Nyteria’s capital, a place no one wants to live in.” Boden was now speeding up and guiding Val as they moved in the shadows towards the glowing lower levels.

  “Why is it like this?” she quizzed him.

  “Because they ran out of power. Now please stop asking questions and just move.” He pulled her along the wall. The sky scrapers towered over them like dead beasts waiting to be given the kiss of life. Val spotted a few of the sand men standing by the corner of a building. Her heart was starting to show erratic traces on her screen. She had managed to work out her vital organs whilst they were running in the bunker. “Are you scared?” asked Boden.

  “Yes.” Val felt no reason to lie at this point.

  “Good, it will keep you alert. We’re going to enter that building.” He pointed towards a doorway. She could see it was Green Two. Several unconscious bodies were lying on the ground close to the door. Hadwyn had been here. “I’m going to activate a tracking device on your screen now, so you can see only the Wardens location. All you have to do is get to him Val. Don’t worry about anything else.”

  A strong red dot appeared on her screen. Eve
rything else disappeared; she could only see the layout of the building. For a second, she wished Jason was there to talk to. He would have said something stupid and inappropriate now to make her feel more in control. But she was here and her family and friends weren’t. They were at home waiting for her to come back, so she’d better not disappoint them.

  They moved swiftly towards the door. Boden spotted a soldier up ahead who clearly saw them in the same moment. He aimed his bow and a single bolt of electricity flew out and struck the soldier down. His body dropped instantly; there was no jolting and shuddering here. As they ran past him, Val turned for a moment, wondering if he really was stunned, as he lay so still. There was still a nervous pain in her stomach as they reached the door. Fear filled her body sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. She leaned against the wall while Boden examined the lock for a second, then placed his bow against the console and blew it off. He pointed up at a flashing light on the wall, “They know we’re here. I’m going to leave you. Follow the red spot.”

  “No! You can’t leave me. Why would you do that?” Panic overwhelmed her.

  Boden turned to see the arrival of three more soldiers. “Val, run. Get the Warden. I promise I’ll find you.” He shot several times knocking the men to the ground, but not before one had taken a shot at them. Val screamed. “Go!” he yelled.

  She had never experienced anything like this. Being in a shoot-out was totally petrifying. She sucked in air, looked at the red spot on her screen and turned left, running down the corridor as she had been instructed. What other options were there? She could hear shots being fired behind her and fear kept her legs moving. She took a right and could see she was close. The firing was moving away and she slowed down, knowing that the Warden was only a few corridors away. Placing her hand on the wall to steady her shaking legs she whispered, “Wendy, you’re in so much trouble.” She moved on, slower now, but aware of everything. One more corridor and she would be there.