"I think they're coming. Now. In less than fifteen minutes." I spit out the words as quickly as I could.
"Who, who's coming?" Dr. Hill asked. Kayla rolled her sleeve down, then scooped up her snake from the floor.
"The Mekanic. The one who was talking to me before. I think it's coming here. Now!"
To Dr. Hill's credit, she didn't question me. She immediately walked to her command console and typed away.
Kayla whispered to me. "Mekanic?"
"Some kind of hacker," I whispered back.
A voice crackled out of the console's speaker.
"Orders, ma'am?"
Dr. Hill spoke into the command console. "I need the Academy on full alert. Check the perimeter sensors, satellite imagery, everything. Is there any unusual activity?"
"On it, ma'am. Will update you immediately if we find something."
A siren started blaring, accompanied by flashing red lights.
I hoped I wasn't making a fool of myself.
Don't underestimate the Mekanics, Dustin. Better safe than sorry.
Dr. Hill tapped the command console several more times.
"What's going on, Leah?" a deep voice answered.
"Drake. We have a possible incoming security breach. Get the kids. And Hunter. I need them on the vectorjet and out within five minutes."
"I'm on it. Anything else?"
"No. Good luck, Drake." Dr. Hill looked at me. "I'm praying this is a false alarm, but I have a feeling that it's not."
"Affirmative. Over and out."
Dr. Hill tapped on the console again. "We're a mile underground. We should have plenty of warning if something comes our way." A moment later a familiar voice spoke.
"Ma'am? Everything is normal, except we're detecting a spike in seismic activity."
"Seismic?" Dr. Hill asked.
The diggers! Zoe shouted in my mind.
"Diggers!" I echoed. "We met a digger Mekanic, recently, with Drake."
"Like a giant worm," Kayla added.
Dr. Hill pounded the wall with a fist. "Damn it. Can you pinpoint the source?"
"It's coming from everywhere. We can't get a solid read on it."
Dr. Hill turned to us. "Get yourself over to the loading bay, Hunter. You, too, Fisher. Hurry!"
The voice over the microphone began talking faster and louder. "It's growing stronger, ma'am! Like a swarm of point sources converging on…us."
Dr. Hill opened the door and pointed at the exit. "Go!" she shouted.
I ran, melding again mid-stride. After a few steps, I skidded to a stop.
"Get on me!" I yelled to Kayla. I crouched to let Kayla scramble onto my back. Together, we raced down the hallway towards the landing bay.
***
Other than the blare of the alarms, the landing bay was mostly empty and quiet when I arrived.
"Hunter!" Drake waved at me from next to a vectorjet. It looked similar to the ones we usually took, but the outer surface was a midnight blue rather than the normal steel gray.
Kayla slipped off my back, and I unmelded. We jogged over to Drake.
"Get inside," he said.
"Is everyone here?" I asked.
"Everyone but Perkins and Richards—"
Julie appeared on the other side of the loading bay.
"Julie!" I shouted.
She nodded and began running over to us. I headed inside the vectorjet. The main cargo bay had already been modified to what looked like sparse living quarters.
"Dustin, we're going on a road trip!" Nikki squealed in greeting. "Isn't that exciting?"
"More like an air trip," Kayla said from behind me.
Nikki blew a raspberry. "Whatever. Same thing."
Kayla glanced around the cargo bay. "That's it? No separate rooms?" Her face scrunched up. "What about bathrooms—"
A door opened in the corner of the cargo bay, where a rectangular box stood. Claire emerged.
"That's the bathroom," Nikki explained.
Kayla stared at the portable bathroom for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then, she went over to a wall and sat down against it.
Mia was looking through the large footlockers built into the side of the large area. "Food. Water. Some medical supplies." She was holding a duffel bag in her right hand.
"What about laundry? And soap?" Claire asked. "I didn't have time to pack anything."
Mia shook her head. "Some basic toiletries. I brought a few spare combat uniforms, but I don't see any others."
"Oh," Nikki said, her previous enthusiasm gone.
Kayla sighed. "Shit."
Julie stepped inside. "What's the rush? I barely had time to pack anything." She had a small backpack.
"We think there's incoming Mekanics. Diggers," I said.
"Damn," Julie said. She hopped onto one of the footlockers, then took off her backpack.
Drake barged into the cargo bay. "We're leaving in sixty seconds."
"What about Stella?" I asked.
Stella rushed into the cargo bay behind Drake. "I'm here." She had a large pack.
"Stow your things, and get into your Beastforms," Drake ordered. "We don't know what we're up against."
A row of seats with straps lined one section of the walls, but melding was infinitely safer than any protective gear or buckles.
In an instant, the cargo bay was filled with giant, glowing creatures.
Drake nodded his approval, then disappeared, presumably heading to the cockpit.
"What took you so long?" Julie asked Stella, her pincers clacking together.
"Getting some extra supplies," Stella replied in a raspy tone. She bared her teeth.
Drake's voice sounded over the speaker system. "Get ready. We're taking off."
The floor rumbled as the vectorjet levitated and turned. There were no windows in the cargo bay. We waited quietly, our fate in Drake's hands.
The vectorjet suddenly jerked to a halt. I dug my claws into the ground out of reflex to keep my balance. Some of the others tumbled.
"Was that supposed to happen?" I asked.
Kayla had slid awkwardly into Mia against a wall. Mia crawled out from under Kayla. "Something's not right," Mia said.
Drake shouted over the speakers. "The seismic activity is getting stronger. There's debris blocking the launch chute's surface exit."
Shit. The launch chute was the fastest way out of the mountain sitting on top of the Academy. We'd have to make our way through the other winding routes, but there was no way we could make it before the Mekanics arrived.
"Young, I need you to run ahead and clear the exit. Jones, you're on backup duty and recovery."
"Got it," Nikki and Claire said simultaneously. For all their goofing off, they knew when it was time for business.
The cargo bay's door opened, and both immediately raced towards it, Nikki leaping and Claire flying. The cargo bay door shut behind them.
"How fast is Nikki?" I asked.
"She can hit at least 90 miles per hour," Mia said. Right, she had studied all of us.
"We're half a mile underground," Julie said.
"So under a minute?" I asked. "Then, however long to clear it."
Only if she can reach her top speed instantly.
"Not quite," Stella said. "It depends how fast she accelerates."
See.
Math was never my strong point. No one likes a smarty-pants.
The vectorjet started moving again, slowly trailing behind Nikki I assumed.
We lurched to the side, and there was the loud screech of metal ripping into metal.
"It's going to be a bumpy ride!" Drake shouted over the speakers. "If all hell breaks loose, your priority is ensuring Hunter doesn't fall into enemy hands."
"That's reassuring," Kayla muttered.
The vectorjet scraped against something else. I kept my claws out to maintain my grip on the floor. The others, especially Mia, lost their footing every time we hit another bump. I noticed Julie had used some of her webbing to keep a grip on the floor as well.
"Hold on to me," I shouted to Kayla.
Kayla wrapped half her serpentine body around me, then the other half around Stella. Julie wrapped several of her legs around Mia to keep her in place.