The other girls walked over.
"Nice. Every little bit counts in a fight," Julie said.
"Damn, girl," Claire said. "You really came prepared. We barely had any time to get ready."
"Thank you," Mia said. "That was very thoughtful." The others murmured in agreement.
I watched as Stella displayed the syringes, then packed them away. Zoe? What do you think?
Not even on the mouth? Bleh. Good effort, though.
Not that, Zoe.
Zoe swiped playfully at Miney once, then leaped onto a footlocker. I frowned as I joined the golden cat. So that's how it was.
***
Half an hour later, the vectorjet landed in a rocky valley. The cargo bay opened, and the seven of us plus Drake walked out onto the stony ground.
Drake was in a better mood than usual.
"He looks happy," I whispered to Stella.
Drake heard me. He nodded. "It's been too long since I've seen them. They're a good group."
"Is there a base here?" Mia asked.
Drake had a small device in his hand. He clicked it. The rocky valley wall in front of us shimmered, revealing a large metal door, enough to fit the entire vectorjet. "That way. It's a minor outpost, not a proper base, but still well-equipped. Now we wait for them."
As Drake finished speaking, the metal door began rising with a mechanical whine, revealing moving shapes on the other side.
With the bright sunshine outside, it took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the dark interior of the outpost's entrance.
Zoe saw them first. No. It's a trap!
For a brief moment, no one spoke. Then, Drake melded, roaring in fury.
In front of us were Cody and Staccato in their Beastforms, five twisted bodies piled at their feet.
Cody shook his bloody jaws at us, growling. "Hey, ladies. Little-D. Miss me?"
CHAPTER 14
"Get back on the jet!" Drake shouted. "Go! Go!"
Julie melded and took a step forward, but Drake swatted her backwards in the direction of the vectorjet. "Get him away from here!" he screamed.
We all knew who he meant. Me.
Without waiting for us to reply, he launched himself at Cody and Staccato.
The rest of us had melded, and we retreated towards the vectorjet.
I caught a glimpse of Staccato's bug-like Beastform colliding with Drake.
So the report had been right. Staccato had survived.
Something's different about Cody…
I didn't have time to check what Zoe meant, though. We ran up the cargo bay's ramp, piling inside. Claire unmelded and ran towards the front of the vectorjet.
"I'll get us in the air!" Claire shouted.
Claire knew how to fly the vectorjet? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.
Julie crouched near the door as it began to close.
"Julie," Mia warned. "We have our orders." She pointed her turtle beak at me. "He's the priority."
Fuck. We were leaving Drake behind because of me. I moved closer to the closing doors. We couldn't abandon him like that. I took another step towards it. Maybe—
Someone nudged me away from the door. It was Stella. "Dustin. He can take care of himself."
She's right. I hope.
I didn't like the sound of that. What did you mean before, that Cody's different?
The cargo bay slammed shut with a final, echoing boom.
He was carrying something. I don't know.
Zoe sent a mental picture of Cody's Beastform. He was the same gray bulldog as before, but there was a glare from his back, like the sunlight had caught something metallic there.
It didn't matter. I couldn't see him with the closed door. The vectorjet's engines started to rumble.
Our priority was getting away. Drake would find us afterwards. It's not like Staccato and Cody could fly.
Nikki had unmelded and was back at the command console, tapping away. "I'll peek into the external cameras," Nikki said.
I hadn't realized Nikki was so good with computers, either. Everyone was stepping up, damn it. I hated standing around doing nothing.
The rest of us unmelded and joined her. An image of Drake grappling with Staccato appeared on the screen. The image of the battle below started to shrink as the vectorjet took off.
"What's that?" Stella asked, looking over Nikki's shoulder. She pointed at a corner of the screen.
"That's Cody!" Julie shouted. "Meld!"
The gray ball grew larger on the screen until I recognized the familiar cannonball attack.
I melded an instant before something struck the vectorjet, tilting the craft.
"Hang on!" Claire said over the speakers.
The vectorjet righted itself, then slowly steadied.
"Where's Cody?" I asked.
Stella unmelded and checked the command console. "Back on the ground," Stella said.
The other girls and I unmelded. Kayla sighed in relief.
"We made it?" Nikki asked.
"We just have to wait for Drake to catch up with us," Julie said.
"Drake can probably handle Staccato. And Cody, too," I said.
Staccato had been much stronger than me the last time I had fought him, but Drake was similarly beyond my level. I figured it was a fair fight. And Cody was basically another recruit.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. We don't know what's happened to them since we've last seen them.
"Do you see any other enemies?" Mia asked. "I can take over the vectorjet, so Claire can cover us from outside."
"Nothing," Nikki said. "Wait. Is that Drake?"
The rest of us crowded around the screen. Something was flying towards us.
Can Mekanics fly?
They developed interstellar travel, Dustin.
Right.
"There are three of them," Mia said.
"Shit," Julie said. "We're sitting ducks here. Except for Claire."
"That's Drake," I said. A bulky silver form crashed into one of the three approaching figures. The two others continued towards us.
We stumbled as the vectorjet accelerated hard.
"Uh, so what's the plan?" Claire asked over the speakers. "I don't think I can outrun them."
Zoe, any idea what we're up against?
Flyers and other specialist forms are typically Grade C or higher.
Higher? Damn!
"Bad news," I said. "There's a good chance those are Grade C or higher. There's no way we can take them on."
"How do you know that?" Julie asked.
"Trust me," I said.
"I don't think even Drake can take on multiple Grade C Mekanics," Mia said.
Stella gave me a strange look. "We can't outrun them. And there's nowhere to hide in the skies."
I'm sure I wasn't the only one remembering Drake's lesson.
"Fuck. What the hell are a bunch of Grade C's doing here anyway?" Julie asked.
Kayla nodded towards me. "Him. They want Dustin, so we can't let them get him."
No one spoke for a while. We stared at the screen. The two figures were getting closer and closer. They would attack soon, and it would be over. Maybe Claire would be able to get a few of us to safety, but I doubted even Mia could survive a fall from this height without zeroing. With a couple Mekanics on the loose, not to mention Cody and Staccato, that would be it. Game over.
Even if we somehow all managed to cling to Claire, it would be easy to pick us off.
I had to do something. I had to help them.
No, Dustin. That's a bad idea.
It's the only idea I have. You with me, Zoe?
She sent a mental sigh. Aren't you afraid of heights?
Terrified.
Stella was by the command console. "Stella, open the cargo bay," I said.
"What are you up to?" she asked.
"Just do it. We don't have time."
Mia stepped in front of me. "The mission is to keep you safe."