Chapter 20

Sara spent a frustrating couple of minutes getting nowhere with the system. She understood about hacking – she’d even dabbled a bit on Earth. She’d never done anything dangerous or malicious. It was enough for her to simply have a poke around.

It had stood her in good stead, the time Daelen had been off on some other world and a massive lightning storm had led to a malfunction, causing the heating to become stuck on full blast. Not only was it going to cook them in the middle of the hottest heatwave on record, but it was also working beyond its safe limit and could very well explode. In that event, assuming they weren’t killed, not only would she and Jessica lose their home – again – but it would also expose Daelen’s base and his network of portals to the people of Earth. The consequences could have been catastrophic. It should have been a simple matter to turn it off, but the fully automated system seemed to have a mind of its own and refused to co-operate.

Jessica, of course, refused to leave her side.

“But if a voice says, ‘I’m sorry, Sara, but I can’t do that’, I’m getting us both out of here!”

That had proved unnecessary, however, as Sara discovered a back door in the system and found a way to get it back under control. When Daelen returned, she gave him a piece of her mind about rescuing them only to leave them in a death trap. From that point on, he granted her full access to everything.

Compared to that, this system was child’s play, but she defied anyone to get much done in two minutes.

At eight minutes to barrier up, her mobile bleeped, telling her she had a message. She looked at it with a puzzled frown, but it turned into a grin when she entered the string of numbers, letters and symbols it presented. Somehow, Michael and Lao had got hold of the security codes. That made operating the system much more straightforward. Putting her mobile down on top of the console, she got to work.

Six minutes to barrier up, she was already deep in the system when her phone rang again. She’d put it on vibrate only, but sitting on top of so much metal, it seemed to make the entire factory ring in response. Without even checking the number, she answered it.

“This had better be important!” she growled, assuming it was Michael, but the voice that responded was female.

“PDI here. We’re sending people your way, but I’m afraid we might be too late. We just got word the government are sending their own operative.”

“What, just the one?” Sara scoffed, dismissively.

“Yes, but he’s the best in the business. Don’t underestimate him, Sara.”

Then without so much as a ‘Bye’, she hung up, which was just as well because that’s when the alarm sounded. Sara smiled. That was her sister, she was sure of it. Jessica was on her way, and when they were together, they were unstoppable.

Her smile quickly vanished, however, as in the monitor screen, she caught the reflection of a male Lavosian in a sharp suit levelling a gun. She didn’t know how he could see her, but apparently, he could. She dived to the ground as a laser beam slammed into the console. This section of the high gantry was on a corner around a large pipe about three feet in diameter. Leaving her phone on the floor, then, she rolled to put that pipe between them, denying him line of sight. There, she used her left-hand dagger to quickly but carefully slice through the leather thong that kept her right one attached to her wrist.

Breaking cover for a second, she threw her free dagger at her attacker. He dodged to one side, allowing it to clatter harmlessly on the gantry behind him, but that gave Sara the opening she needed to sprint towards him, constantly weaving at random to prevent him tracking her movements and getting a clear shot. She pounced on him, slicing at his right wrist with her remaining dagger. His reflexes were too quick for her to open an artery, but she at least forced him to drop his gun, which she kicked off the gantry to the ground twenty feet below him. As she did so, he flicked open a knife in his left hand, and went for her neck, forcing her to jump back up.

As soon as her weight lifted, he kicked her so hard, he almost sent her over the edge. Sara winced as she slammed into a gated section of the guard rail that was built into this section. Obviously, it was there to allow materials and equipment to be lifted up from below. She was grateful that the health and safety regime in this place was good enough to ensure that it was securely locked because it was the only thing that had saved her life.

Her enemy rushed at her, and she tried to throw him over the side, but he was wise to the move, stopped himself and jumped back away from danger. In the same movement, he tried to plunge his knife into her, but she blocked his strike with her own dagger. She was surprised that his blade could withstand the blow – her dragonclaw daggers should be able to slice through anything. Unless, of course, his knife was also made from the claws of dragons. Lavosian dragons.

As their fight continued, Sara was keenly aware that she was running out of time. She was sure the countdown must be down to three minutes by now. For a moment, it looked like that might be academic to her, as her enemy slammed her left hand so hard onto the safety rail that she lost her grip on her remaining dagger. He must have managed to sever the leather thong during their struggle, because it tumbled over the side. Now she was weaponless and he had her in a vice-like grip. She struggled to keep his knife away, but he was too strong, and it was getting inexorably closer.

*****

Along the way, Jessica had to deal with more guards as they came at her. If they were at range, she dodged and weaved at random, until she was close enough to cut them down. If they didn’t see her coming, then they died without ever knowing why. She was swift, silent and deadly. She stopped for a second, to undo the leather thong from one of her daggers so she could throw it. Setting off again, quickly, this proved to be a wise decision as a guard levelled a gun at her from down the corridor. The dagger struck him between the eyes before he could fire a shot. She retrieved her weapon on her way past without missing a step.

Sara and Jessica had learned to fight at a young age. On Phitonia, fighting meant survival. Just because, on a larger scale, dragons were the enemy, on a smaller scale, that didn’t make all Chetsuans their friends. In the face of limited resources, there was inevitably competition for food. Most Chetsuans tried to hold on to some scraps of civilisation and the concept of helping one another. Others, however, fell back on barbarism and brutality, taking the lion’s share for themselves and to hell with anyone else. That wasn’t just limited to food, either. Some of the stronger males viewed females as property to fight over and to the victor went the spoils. Then there were those with a taste for younger, fresher meat. Rather than try and shield them from this truth, Jessica and Sara’s parents taught them to recognise evil when they saw it and know how to fight it. When someone came at you, intending harm, you ended that threat and made sure they never got a second chance.

Their time on Earth had perhaps dulled their edge a little, not that there weren’t threats there, but sparring with Mandalee had sharpened them up again. Mandalee was an assassin, devoting herself to ending threats to innocents. Her style of combat was really an extension of what their parents had taught them, and she knew they would have liked her enormously.

*****

At one point, faced with two guards at once, Jessica splashed a bit of water from her jug into the air to form a pair of ice shards which, with a bit of encouragement, flew on the wind to slay them even as they pulled the trigger. Their shots went wide. She wanted to keep as much water as possible, though, to protect Sara when she reached her, and she needed to reach her quickly because they had a new enemy to fight. With all the weeds she had grown around the outside, Jessica hadn’t believed anyone could possibly get in. Unfortunately, she’d overlooked the roof. Using the noise of the alarm as a cover, a male Lavosian in a sharp suit blew a hole in the ceiling and abseiled down onto the gantry where her sister was.

Jessica ran up the nearest set of steps, throwing a security guard all the way down them when she reached the top. Carrying the jug of water was awkward but necessary. Catriona had told her how she’d learned to keep nature with her for her magic at all times, and while this might be a rather awkward way of doing it, for now it was her only option.

As she rounded the last corner, she saw the furious fight going on just ahead. Her sister was in trouble, but she’d seen her approach, and without a word, she had managed to communicate her plan. With their bodies positioned as they were, Jessica couldn’t go for the kill. If he moved at the last second, she might kill her sister instead. But Sara was using all her strength to keep the progress of his knife hand to a slow crawl. An easy target.

Jessica threw her dagger straight and true, and the Lavosian screamed as a dragonclaw dagger stuck itself in his hand, causing him to drop his weapon.

While he reflexively clutched his injury, Sara was able to break free and retrieve his weapon, but she realised he was trying to disguise the fact that he was pulling Jessica’s dagger out of his bloody hand and claiming it for himself. Sara was willing to bet he was equally adept with his left hand as his right, and backed away, searching for an opening to attack.

Further along the gantry, Jessica saw Sara’s knife lying next to another gated section. That gave her an idea. Finally putting the jug down, she called out to her sister, “Sara! To me!” and threw Sara’s dagger at their enemy. He whirled around and managed to deflect it so that it embedded itself in the pipe in the corner, but Sara took that opportunity to duck under his arm and dash to Jessica’s side.

At that moment, over by the console, Sara’s phone rang. She realised that it must be Michael, which meant there could be no more than two minutes until the barrier went up. Standing in their way was this government intelligence agent.

“So, who’s the guy in the suit?” Jessica asked.

“According to PDI, James Bond.”

“Cool.”

As their enemy charged along the gantry at the two Chetsuans, Jessica kicked over the jug. Water spilt out, which she instantly froze to form a sheet of slippery ice. He tried to stop himself, but it was impossible. Jessica used her remaining dagger to cut through the safety mechanism on the gate and Sara kicked him over the edge. He tumbled to the ground with a scream, which ended abruptly as his head collided with a large metal bolt. Then he lay still.

Jessica harmlessly evaporated the ice, and the sisters did a high five with their tails. He might have been the best individual operative Weslend had to offer, but when the two sisters from Phitonia were together, they were unstoppable.

Sara’s phone was still ringing, insistently. There couldn’t be much more than a minute to go.

“Jess,” Sara said, “I’ll answer that and work the controls. You cut the fragment free of its housing, OK?”

“Got it.”

Dashing over to their respective positions, Jessica sliced the glass front out of the fragment casing, being careful not to cut herself, and Sara picked her phone up off the floor. She saw she was right: sixty-four seconds.

She accepted the call and spoke without checking the display. “Sorry, Mickey. Had a bit of a holdup here, but we’re ready—”

“—Don’t touch the fragment or we’re dead!” came Michael’s voice, cutting across her, his words coming out in a rush.

“Jess, stop!” she screamed, and only just in time as her sister’s dagger was a hairsbreadth from the fragment.

“Portals are bi-directional,” Michael reminded Sara and she immediately understood. If she suddenly stopped the flow of energy from the weapon to the power station, the energy would surge back through the portal and blow up the weapon, the warehouse and most of Weslend.

*****

While the demigod was frantically calling Sara, and Lao was distracted with his portacom, the technician had seized the opportunity to grab the fire extinguisher, lift it high above his head and slam it down hard on the console with a cry of, “Death to the dragons!”

The controls were crushed, sparks flew, and flames began to grow.

With the phone in one hand, an enraged Michael formed a fist with the other and plunged it straight through the technician’s chest, ripping out his heart. Before the body had even hit the floor, Lao was using the fire extinguisher to put out the fire before it could take hold, but the damage was done. With less than ninety seconds to barrier activation, the console was useless. Lao still had access via his portacom, but he could only do so much without the proper controls.

At last, Sara answered the phone, and Michael convinced her to leave the fragment alone.

“Let the barrier go up as planned,” he advised, putting the phone on speaker. “It’s the only way, now.”

Turning to his Lavosian companion, he asked, “Lao, can you get access to the barrier’s field focusing system?”

Lao nodded as his fingers flew over the touch screen.

“Sara, you know what to do at your end?”

“Full reverse,” she replied, emphatically.

“Well done,” he commended her. He knew she wouldn’t need him to explain.

“Got it!” Lao called out.

He, too, realised what Michael was getting at. He could pull the focus in, to form the barrier around the power plant only, containing the blast there. Just two problems: that was where they were standing, and the portal would carry the explosion back to Weslend, killing everyone there.

To solve both problems, Michael grabbed Lao and teleported them down to the main chamber of the power plant, as close as he dared to the portal. He widened it in anticipation of using it to escape to the warehouse in Weslend, but attempting to travel while there was still energy pouring through it would be suicide. Fortunately, there was a small window of opportunity. The surge was due three minutes and seven seconds after the barrier went up. Those seven seconds was the time it would take for the system to realign the necessary components to allow the surge program to kick in. Those seven seconds were their only chance to escape death.

At the other end, Sara counted down the seconds to barrier activation.

“Five…four…three…two…one…now!”

All around the world, millions of people were watching the vidcast, in anticipation of seeing the historic moment when the Wirathian barrier switched on. Dozens of officials were left with red faces as it failed to appear. But it hadn’t failed. It just wasn’t where they were looking for it. Lao confirmed that it was up around the power plant.

Waiting a couple of extra seconds to make sure the stream of energy had ceased for the moment, Michael and Lao dived through the portal. Jessica saw them come through and told her sister, whose hands danced over the controls like a concert pianist. The power surge would happen as planned, but instead of pulling more power from the control device fragment, she reversed the flow to pour it all back in again.

Even with the flow of energy stopped, the Wirathian power plant had already absorbed a lot of unstable higher planar energy. Now it had nowhere to go. It would just go around and around in a system that was never designed for such power. In minutes, it would be too much for it to handle and explode, so Michael closed the portal, isolating it. Now, thanks to the barrier, it could harm no-one.

The PDI forces had arrived in Weslend by this time, and having hacked their way through the greenery, were storming into the facility, taking care of the last of the security. Before anyone could relax, though, Michael heard Sara swear, loudly.

Beating him to it, Lao called up, “What is it?”

“I can’t stop it!” she cried.

When the enemy agent first attacked her, his laser beam had hit the console. It was mostly still functioning – she could change settings, reverse the power flow – but it wouldn’t shut down. Jessica hit the big red Emergency Stop button. Nothing. The fragment was already beginning to throb, ominously. It wasn’t designed to work like this, and the fragment was in danger of exploding into yet more fragments, releasing its energy as it did so. Sara had her containment box ready, which would make it safe for transport back to Tempestria, but if they didn’t act fast, there wouldn’t be anything to transport.