Chapters (48)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Copyright
He shrugged. “I’m not a scientist. I don’t know the details. My . . .” He hesitated, his face going strangely pale, highlighting the slight differences, the hints of not-quite-human around his eyes. “My mother studied them. I never listened much. All I wanted to know was how to kill them, how to evade them. She said they emit a low-level radiation that interacts with the powers we already possess. The gunk they soak their victims in amplifies it. She said it wasn’t so much that the aliens gave us powers as it was that the aliens were the powers.”
I reeled. “Are you saying the aliens have powers too?”
“I don’t know. They never needed them, not on my planet, at least.”
I closed my eyes, coming to terms with this new information. At least I knew what was happening to me. Hopefully it wasn’t the first step in transforming into an alien myself. “How did your powers change?”
“Honestly, I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. But I’m guessing the change is what powered me across the universe.” He swallowed hard. “I haven’t used my powers since, though. I . . . I can’t. Maybe I exhausted them, or maybe I . . . anyway. If you want to get us out of here, you’re going to have to open the door.” He flashed me a grin. “So where are you taking us?”
“Our original plan was to hit the command deck and get better weapons,” Rune offered.
Cage stood up, tucking a protein bar wrapper into his pocket. “Rune? Liam? Any chance you can use the computers to find out where Legion is holding its prisoners?”
Liam shook his head, but Rune closed her eyes. Her lashes fluttered like she was in REM sleep. “Rune?” I asked hesitantly.
She slumped, and Cage caught her, panic written across his face. “Rune. Rune!”
Oh, what now? Terror surged in my chest. If something happened to Rune, too . . . But then she opened her eyes and smiled weakly. “I’m okay. I was just checking to see if I could do it.”
“Do what?”
“Access the computer without ever having been in direct contact.”
“And?”
“I can.” She gave herself a shake. “It was pretty exhausting, and I’d rather not do it too often, but it’s good to know it works. Legion is on the command deck, arguing with Grigori Danshov. I don’t know what about. I only got glimpses.” She gave us a tired smile. “The good news is, they have all the others with them. Everyone looks okay.”
We exchanged unhappy glances. “Well,” I said, “guess that’s where we’re going.”