Chapter 21

The limbo finally ends when news comes in from Sapphire City.

As I read the telegraph messages, it seems as if the entire sky had fallen. The Sky Tribe armies have reached the gates. Their war drums beat tirelessly and echo along the rocky shoreline north and south of the citadel itself.

The siege has begun, but we don’t yet know how long it will take or if they can even get through.

All hands are on deck over there. The children, the elderly, and the protected women have been evacuated to remote, secret locations. My blood boils as I think of my friends—Amber, Alicia, and Cynthia are still in there. The laboratory is heavily protected, and they’ve moved all the technical equipment to the underground hallways, worried the Sky Tribe jets might attempt to blow them up.

I had the telegraph wires extended from outside the city to our command center in the military base, and I read through the messages as they pour in.

I listen to the rushing of footsteps outside the door, well aware that our people are scared and agitated, helpless, and relying on these telegraph lines to hear about their friends and families from the coast.

“We’ll have to use that sky scanner as it is,” Fadai says as he comes into the room. “I just got intel from the north… they’re launching the starship tomorrow morning. That’s why they’ve begun the siege of Sapphire City. They aim to obliterate us on every front.”

“It may not do much good,” I tell Fadai, wracked by my own inability to do more about it. “The lenses aren’t sharp enough, and the device’s sensors cannot breach past the five hundred-mile radius. I only managed to fit a few drones with additional sensors, but I’d have to send them all out at once and in every direction.”

“Then we’ll do that. We have to do something,” Fadai insists.

We’re all nervous, understandably so. Yossul joins us in the command room with a grim look on his face. Immediately, I spring to my feet. “What is it?”

“What we feared,” he says. “There’s movement on the northern horizon.”

As if fate weren’t determined enough to mess with my resolve, one more message comes in through the telegraph machine, the words printed in black ink on strips of yellow paper. My lips move as I read the words carefully and feel the weight of the world collapsing onto my shoulders and crushing me.

“They’re going to breach Sapphire City’s eastern gates by midnight,” I say. “The Sky Tribe got its claws on some ships from farther north; they’re guessing Jade City. They brought troops down on the water, not just from inland. They’re counting almost ten thousand men.” I pause and give the brothers a terrified look. “We knew this day would come, but dammit, it’s worse than I imagined.”

“They’ll be okay,” Fadai tries to reassure me, though we all know the truth may echo differently in the end. “They’ve got the bulk of the Fire Tribe force behind them, but we need to shoot that fucking starship down as soon as they launch it.”

“We also need to get ready for an invasion here,” Yossul adds, shaking his head slowly. “And you two need to come with me upstairs to understand precisely what we’re dealing with.”

With a heavy heart and a constantly tightening stomach, Fadai and I follow Yossul outside and up the iron steps leading to the top of our base’s highest observation tower. Here, a hot wind blows ruthlessly from the south, but we do get a full view of the entire surrounding area. At night, we can even see the distant glimmers of Diamond City to the north, like a faint, yellow aurora borealis whispering into the sky. I aim the telescope lens in that direction, and as soon as I see them, I recognize the gravity of our situation.

“They weren’t readying more troops for Sapphire City the other day,” I mumble, stepping aside so Fadai can also see the horror headed our way. “They were readying more troops for us.”

“Our man, whoever the Sky Tribe caught back in Pearl City, told them everything,” Fadai surmises. “Shit.”

“Shaytan kept his mouth shut because he knew we might figure out a way to wiggle out of the execution and out of Pearl City altogether,” I reply. “He kept his mouth shut because he didn’t want to risk us getting too far ahead of it.”

“He probably also feared information leaks that might make it back to Sapphire City,” Yossul mutters, his arms crossed as the wind blows through his black hair. “I’ll give that bastard credit; he played his cards well.”

“We did anticipate this possibility, though,” I say. “At least it’s not a total surprise.”

“No, but what does shock me is the size of the army that’s headed our way,” Fadai replies, eyes glued to the telescope lens. “It’s way more than we can handle.”

And there it is—the hardest truth—the moment we all saw coming yet hoped wouldn’t. Time isn’t on our side, and neither are the technology and manpower we have at our disposal. The dice have fallen, the odds now fixed and indisputable.

“We have to keep them out of Opal City and away from the base at least until morning,” I tell the men. “No matter what. If they launch the starship, we need to be able to at least try and shoot it down. We can’t do that if we’re getting our asses handed to us.”

“Once again, you make it sound so easy and reasonable,” Fadai can’t help but chuckle, yet his laughter is faded and bitter—like the laughter of a man who knows he’s about to die.

Yossul offers a slight nod. “I’ll put a guy up here to watch the northern horizon,” he says. “We’re not sending any drones out. It might alert them to our presence and our awareness, and it might blow back on us later.”

“You’re right. Yes. Eyes up here. The more we know about what’s coming, the better,” I reply. “But I expect at least three thousand men.”

“Yossul and I will look after the city,” Fadai declares, his brow furrowed as he looks down at me. “You’ll cover this base. We need you here, ready to fire the long-range guns in the morning.”

If Opal City falls, the Sky Tribe will come here next. We don’t have enough men to keep them at bay for long. The odds may not be in my favor, but I’ll be damned if I’ll go down without a fight. Murmurs erupt from below. We look down and see one of the younger recruits coming out of the base with a ribbon of yellow paper in his hand, his red eyes glowing with excitement.

“Great news, Jewel! Great news, Commander!” he shouts.

“What is it?” I ask.

He reaches the base of the tower, and I can see the joy sparkling all over him. “This is a message from Cynthia, Commander. They’ve been testing the cure, and they finally have results!”

“Oh, please, tell me—”

“It works!” he exclaims, a boy of fifteen who has finally found the hope he needed to fight this good fight all the way to the end. “The first tests have yielded results, Commander. The cure works!”

“And we have no way of reaching out to the whole of the Sky Tribe to tell them,” I mutter, wishing I could enjoy this moment more than the situation currently allows. “They’re armed and ready for war, not peace talks.”

“They have repeatedly proven that they do not care about the cure,” Yossul says. “The only way to make them care is to shoot that fucking starship down, Jewel. You know what you have to do, and you have our full support. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” I whisper.

I don’t know how, but we have to resist. We have to keep Opal City under our authority until the break of dawn while I prepare my sensor drones and send them out beyond the five-hundred-mile radius when Sunna’s suns rise in the east. Those devices might yield more information about the possible location of that wretched starship. I could track its nuclear engines’ heat signature. They’ll likely have it powered by sunrise, so my sensors should be able to pick something up.

“I’ll cover the base,” I say after a long moment of tense silence. “I’ve got about two hundred capable men here with me. We’ve got enough weapons between us, and you know the long-range guns are heavily secured. Solomon’s widows insisted the engineers make their shells as heat resistant as possible. We’ve tested them.”

“How long can they last against laser weapons?” Yossul asks.

“Long enough to make a difference, provided I see that fucking starship somewhere,” I reply.

Fadai nods once. “Good. We’ll hold them back for as long as we can, then.” He looks at his brother. “We need to prepare the soldiers and start evacuating the civilians.”

They both turn their sights on me. “We might not see you until after this is over,” Yossul says.

God, the pain in his voice is too much to bear. The anguish in my heart is cutting off my air supply.

“Or ever again if it gets too nasty.” I let a heavy sigh roll out of my chest. It hurts. “I love you both, to the three moons and back.”

I’m not one for sweet words, and they know it. Yet, in dire times such as this, certain things come naturally—including love and affection. Yossul smiles softly and takes me in his arms. I melt in his embrace as Fadai joins us. They shower me with delicate, deep kisses, blessing my cheeks, my temples, and my lips with their spirits.

I take it all in. I welcome the taste and momentary peace I get from their strong arms and muscular frames, their very presence soothing my soul. One last hug, one last kiss, one last moment before we bid one another farewell, and I hope to meet again when it’s over.

“I’ll be right here, waiting for the both of you,” I say to Yossul and Fadai. “You’d better not keep me waiting too long.”

They laugh lightly. I laugh, too. It’s all I can do to stop myself from inwardly collapsing because I know this may be the last time I see them.

Dread tightens its hold on me as I turn around and walk over to the command center’s main control boards. Here, I have screens with live video footage from in and around the base, along with a few shots from outside the city. I’ll have eyes on my people when trouble finally reaches our doorstep.

For the time being, I can hear the distant hums and the faint thudding of their drums. They’re looking to scare us. It’s a long game they’re playing, but I’ve been down this road before.

I know where it leads.

I also know they’re not taking us down before I shoot that starship out of the sky.