“We’re going to steal his ship right out from under him. We’re going to rescue you.” I say these things out loud, steel in my voice, knowing that Ella can hear me.
I’m sorry. That won’t happen, Ella says telepathically. I can tell by the way her eyes well up with tears that Marina can hear her, too. Sarah covers her mouth and swallows hard, looking at me questioningly.
“Bullshit,” I say.
“Don’t you dare give up hope,” Marina practically yells into the empty space in front of her. “Ella? Do you hear me?”
Ella doesn’t respond. I can still feel her there, almost like a tickle in the back of my mind. I know she’s listening in. She just isn’t answering us anymore.
“I don’t care what she says or how many Mogs we have to go through,” I say, addressing Marina now. “If we do one thing today, we’re getting Ella away from Setrákus Ra. Get hold of her and get her back to Lexa’s ship.”
“Agreed,” Marina says.
“Maybe that’ll work,” Sarah adds, that look of shock gone from her face, replaced by a thoughtful look. Like Marina and me, she isn’t backing down from the threat of death. “I mean, wasn’t there something with your guys’ old Loric charm that broke it when you got together?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “So?”
“So, maybe Setrákus Ra’s messed-up version works in the opposite way,” Sarah explains. “Maybe that’s why he’s been taking Ella with him everywhere he goes. He’s got to keep her close for it to work.”
“Makes sense to me,” Mark says, shrugging. “Not that I’m, like, an authority on this shit.”
It’s definitely a possibility worth testing out, especially since we planned to rescue Ella anyway.
I turn to Adam. The plan was for the two of us to go invisible and board the Anubis while the others provided the distraction. “What do you think? Go for the warship or go for Ella?”
“Your call,” he replies.
“You might have to get right under his nose to get to Ella,” Sarah says.
“Which means he could turn off your invisibility,” Marina adds.
“Shit,” I say, mind racing. “All right. Maybe we can get them separated when we spring our traps. If we see an opportunity, let’s go for Ella. Otherwise, we stick to the plan and take the Anubis.” I point south. “There’s some old stonework that way. If you head south from there, that’s where Lexa hid our ship. If things get bad out here, if the Mogs figure out your position, I want you three to make a break for it.”
“And leave you behind?” Marina asks.
“We’ll be invisible, at least,” I reply, looking between her and Sarah. “Just stay alive. That’s what’s important now.”
Sarah nods grimly and Marina turns away, looking towards the Sanctuary. Even after Ella’s warning, I doubt she has any intention of retreating.
Before I can say anything else, Adam grabs my arm and points towards the landing strip.
“Damn it! Six, we forgot about our friend.”
I look to where Adam points and see Phiri Dun-Ra squirming wildly against her bonds. In our rush to get into position, I completely forgot about our Mogadorian prisoner. Even though she’s hooded, Phiri Dun-Ra must have heard the commotion and knows we’re distracted. She’s going nuts on her restraints, doing anything she can to get loose. We tied her to that wheel strut pretty tightly, so I don’t think she’s going to break free. All the same, it’s probably not a good idea to leave her out there when the Anubis shows up.
“Setrákus Ra will know something’s up if he sees her,” Adam says, reading my mind.
Mark lifts up his blaster and looks down the sights, the barrel aimed in Phiri Dun-Ra’s direction. “Want me to take her out? I think I can make the shot.”
Marina puts a hand on his blaster and makes him lower it. “If we wanted to execute her, Mark, don’t you think we would’ve done it already?”
Adam gives me a look, like maybe it’s not a bad idea to finally put Phiri Dun-Ra out of our misery. He’s wanted to kill her all day, though. And I can understand why.
“Should’ve stuck her in the pit,” Sarah says regretfully.
“We have to get her out of sight,” I say.
I reach out with my telekinesis and undo Phiri Dun-Ra’s bonds. It takes me a few seconds—like Marina firing off the hidden blasters, such a precise task is not easy to accomplish at this distance. Phiri Dun-Ra must think she’s done this on her own. She rips off her hood and gag, then springs to her feet, stumbling, surprised to have the ropes suddenly give way. The trueborn rubs her wrists for a moment, looks around and then takes off running towards the jungle opposite of us. She’s headed right towards where we’ve hidden some of the Mog blasters.
“Six?” Marina asks, a note of warning in her voice. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
I do. Before Phiri Dun-Ra can make it far, I use the ropes we’d tied her up with to telekinetically lasso her feet. She falls forward hard, pretty much landing on her face. Then, I drag her towards us, dust and dirt scrabbled up as she claws at the ground and tries to escape. Her frustrated screams are loud enough to scare up some birds from the nearby trees.
“We need to shut her up,” Adam says.
“Marina, reel her in,” I reply.