My head is in Sarah Hart’s lap, the real Sarah Hart, and she strokes my hair with her fingers. I stare
blankly at the ceiling. I reach up and touch my neck. The cut that runs all the way around it is deep. I want
to sit up, but my bruised ribs and knees won’t allow it.
I’m humiliated by how easily I was overtaken by Setrákus Ra. How weak I was in the face of his
tremendous strength. I’ve killed so many Mogadorian soldiers. I’ve cut off their heads while mowing them
down with weapons I controlled with my mind. Since I received my Legacies, I have always been ready
to fight, no fear, no matter who or what I faced. Until now. Setrákus Ra tossed me around by my pendant
like I was a rag doll. I was helpless against him. He even made my Legacies disappear. I had the
opportunity to kill Setrákus Ra, to save Lorien and end the war, and I was swatted down like an annoying
gnat.
‘Six? Can you tell me if John is still alive?’ Sarah asks cautiously. ‘I know you’re in pain, but can you
tell me that?’
‘Yes. He’s alive,’ I whisper. I can feel her sigh with relief against me.
After a pause, she asks, ‘Are you okay?’
‘I don’t really know,’ I say. I turn my head so I can look up into Sarah’s tired eyes. I try to smile. I’m
exhausted. My eyelids are already fluttering when I open my mouth to speak, ‘He was you, he tricked me
into thinking he was you, the monster.’
Sarah takes this in without any sign of confusion. She shakes her head and looks away. ‘I know. He
showed me. A couple days ago he came into my cell. I thought he was there to take me back to the room
where . . .’ She trails off for a minute, then clears her throat and straightens up. ‘This room with all these
machines and strobe lights. I feel like I’m crazy in there and everything hurts. It’s hard to explain. But he
wasn’t here to take me anywhere. He just stood there, not saying anything. Then he started jerking around,
like he was having a seizure. Then he started to shrink, and, bam! – it was like I was looking into a
mirror. When he finally did speak, it wasn’t his voice. It was mine. I tried to hit him and rip out his eyes,
but he beat me so badly that . . . Well, the first time I could stand was when I caught you when you were
thrown in here.’
‘I’m flattered.’ I try to laugh, but it gets caught in my throat. ‘No, seriously, thank you.’
‘Well, you’re welcome.’ She’s smiling down on me, and I think she must have been terrified . I was
more scared than I’ve ever been just now, and I was born and raised to do this. This is my life. It isn’t
Sarah’s, not by a long shot.
‘I don’t get something. How did he know so much about you? How could he trick me for so long?’
‘They know everything, Six,’ she says, her voice deadly serious.
I slowly begin to roll out of her lap, to push myself off the ground. I try to ignore my ribs begging me to
stay down. ‘What do you mean, everything ? About who? And what do you know? About any of this?’
Sarah looks away. ‘What little I know, I told them all of it,’ she says after a minute. ‘I couldn’t help it.
They kept taking me to that room, strapping me down, and they injected me with drugs. They asked me the
same questions, over and over; after a while my mouth moved even though I told it to stop. I just couldn’t
stop talking.’ Sarah puts her face in her hands and sobs. ‘I told them everything, repeating whole
conversations word for word.’
I sit against the wall and let the pain wash over my body. ‘If John sees Setrákus Ra and believes it’s
you, I don’t know what will happen.’
Sarah suddenly sounds frantic. ‘We have to get out of here! We have to stop him! Is there any way we
can warn John?’
‘I don’t know if I’m ready to break out of here.’
‘What? Why?’ she asks, shocked.
I stagger to my feet, clutching at my ribs. ‘Now that I’ve met Setrákus Ra, I want another chance at him.
He let me live, and now, I’m going to kill him.’ This would sound more lethal if I weren’t swaying
slightly, but I mean it from my very core.
Sarah stands, and I get a good look at her for the first time. Her face is covered in dirt and bruises, her
blond hair limp on her shoulders, but she’s still beautiful. The bottom of her red sweater is torn and she’s
not wearing any shoes. She’s swaying a bit herself. She stares at me, incredulous. ‘Look at yourself, Six.
You’re hurt. You’re r eally hurt. Do you know what you’re even saying? It would be nuts for you to fight
him alone. John will come; just wait for him. Please. He’ll come, and he’ll rescue us, and Sam. I know he
will.’
‘Sam’s here? Are you sure? Have you actually seen him?’
Sarah clenches her jaw. ‘They tossed him in here with me once. He was unconscious, all cut up and
bruised. Like me.’ Then the energy drains out of her and her voice drops. ‘But I know I can’t believe
anything I see or hear anymore.’
Picturing a bloody Sam in this very cell makes my stomach twist with anger. What happened in that
Mog cave? I punch the cement wall, surprised to see it chip away. My strength is returning. No pain. My
Legacies are coming back. I look directly into Sarah’s eyes. ‘Sarah, did you turn John in that night at the
playground? You need to tell me.’
Without hesitation she answers. ‘Absolutely not. I love him. Yes, I was confused about, well, about
everything and it was a lot to take in. But I would never betray any of you, especially John.’
I see her tear-filled eyes, and know she’s telling the truth. ‘Even though he’s an alien, you still love
him? You don’t care?’
Sarah smiles. ‘I can’t explain it. I can’t explain how love feels to me, how it fills me up inside and
keeps me going, but I know that it’s strong and beautiful and I know it’s how I feel about John. I love him,
and I will always love him.’ Just saying the words aloud has her standing up straighter; she looks stronger
and more determined.
Her conviction moves me. I think about what happened between me and John, the kiss and everything. I
don’t love John like Sarah does. She clearly believes John is the only one for her, in the entire universe.
‘I’ve been having these flashbacks, you know, about our trip to Earth. He and I were always fighting,’ I
say, my voice soft.
‘You were?’ she asks, hungry for anything I can tell her.
‘Well, not really fighting so much as me pushing him around and taking his toys.’
We laugh and she takes my hand. I’m sorry she’s here because of us. I’m not going to let her down. She
has so much faith in what we do, who we are, I can see it on her face. ‘I’m going to get you out of here,
okay? I’m going to get you back to John,’ I say.
‘I hope so,’ she says softly.
‘And we’ll find Sam and get him out here too; then we’ll meet up with Seven, Eight and Ten, find Five,
and we’ll figure everything out as a team.’ Her hand in mine gives me even more strength, more certainty
than ever.
‘Hang on. Number Ten? I thought there were just nine of you guys.’
‘There are a lot of things you don’t know, things we’ve learned recently,’ I say, touching the cut around
my neck. It still hurts, but feels like it’s already starting to heal. I wonder vaguely if I’m gaining a new
Legacy.
Sarah hugs me, but our moment is brief. The door whips open, and a dozen Mog soldiers march into the
room, cannons aimed at my chest.
‘Turn invisible,’ Sarah whispers under her breath. ‘Go.’
I test my ribs and roll my neck. I feel better than I did five minutes ago. It has to be good enough. ‘No.
I’m done running.’
The red-haired woman I saw in the garden room limps into the cell. I look at her arm in the sling and
the bandages over her cheek, and can’t help but wish I was the one who did all that to her. Anyone who
would join up with the Mogs and torture kids in a secret bunker, deserves everything she got, and more.
Does she know who the Mogs really are? What they intend to do? The woman purses her pale lips and
stares at me. ‘So. You’re the one who will fight Setrákus Ra?’
I step forward. ‘Yes. Who are you?’
‘Who am I?’ she asks, shocked that I would dare to ask such a thing. I guess she isn’t used to people
questioning her right to be anywhere, asking her to explain who she is.
‘Yeah, you, asshole.’ Does she have me confused with someone who has any respect for her position?
‘I asked you a question. Who are you and why the hell would you be working with them? Do you know
what the Mogadorians are going to do? What their plan is? They will destroy Earth, but only after they get
what they want. And you are not only helping them, you are putting out the damn welcome mat! Did they
tell you why they’re here? Did you even ask?’ I am furious and desperate; this woman has got to listen to
me. She needs to understand what is at stake here.
Her face remains unchanged. ‘I know all I need to know. They are here because they’re looking for you
and your friends. In exchange for our help, they will help us with matters that are vital to our security.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret. I look forward to finding that Number Four again, and his freak alien
friend. I have first shot at them, and I will take it, with pleasure.’
Sarah and I exchange a glance. Alien friend? Who is she talking about? Has John met up with another
Garde?
‘What things are the Mogadorians going to help you with?’ I ask.
‘Well, for starters,’ she says, motioning to the Mog’s cannon, ‘we get these. Thousands and thousands
of alien weapons with capabilities impossible to create here on Earth, that none of our enemies have
access to. With their technology, the Pentagon will be light years ahead of any other army on Earth. We
will be invincible.’ I’m disgusted and I make sure it shows. ‘Setrákus Ra has also been supplying us with
iridium, a chemical that’s incredibly rare on Earth, and we’ve made scientific breakthroughs with it that
will make this country billions of dollars. Also, the United States government is very interested in finding
other life-sustaining planets, and the Mogadorians have already shared information about that.’ When she
stops talking, she rocks back on her feet, and crosses her arms over her chest defiantly.
‘Did they tell you what they do when they find other life-sustaining planets? I’ll tell you what they do.
They destroy them,’ I shout in her face. ‘You picked the wrong side, this time. My friends and I are trying
to stop them.’
‘That’s enough. Your presence is requested by Setrákus Ra. This way. Now.’ The woman moves aside
to let me to pass.
I know I could take this woman and every one of these soldiers. But that would just delay getting to
what I really want – to defeat Setrákus Ra. ‘As tempting as it is to kill you all right now, I think I’ll save
you for Number Four and his freak alien friend,’ I sneer. ‘If Ra wants to do this now, let’s go.’ I push past
her and walk out of the cell.
‘Six!’ Sarah calls after me. ‘Please! Be careful!’
I walk down the hall, my enemy flanking me. We walk down hallways, through several doors, and after
a few minutes, I’m standing inside a huge room. It’s big enough for an army of tanks. It’s also big enough
for an epic fight.
The door slams and I hear it lock behind me. It’s so dark now that I can barely see two feet in front of
me, never mind the other end of the room. I walk towards what I think is the center of the room, testing my
telekinesis as I go by levitating off the ground. The pain I felt earlier is gone. When I think I’m in the
middle of the room, I close my eyes and turn around, feeling the air with my mind. I sense there are about
two dozen or so beings silently entering the room. I’m disappointed. I wanted this to be one on one.
When I open my eyes, they’ve almost adjusted to the dark. I wish I had Marina’s Legacy to be able to
see in the dark, but I can make out enough for now. There are Mog soldiers lined up against the back wall.
They’re wearing ragged black cloaks and black boots, and whip their swords across their bodies. They’re
bigger than most of the Mogadorians I’ve fought before, but I know I can kill them just the same. A door
opens behind me, and another dozen soldiers enter.
‘Hey! What is this? Setrákus Ra!’ I yell to the ceiling, turning around to make sure the Mogs can all see
me and know they do not have some cowering human here. ‘I thought you wanted to fight me!’ A section
of the wall explodes in the back of the room, and the Mogadorian leader appears. The three Loric
pendants swing from his grotesque neck. I plan on taking all of them back. Setrákus Ra opens his arms and
yells, ‘You must first earn the right!’ I guess this is the command to charge, because all at once, the
soldiers let out a battle cry, and rush at me. I start at my right and begin to pick them off, one at a time.
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