MARCH 1, 2011

To survive, Summer would have to kill.

She had heard Theo Majestic not long ago, within the Soynite royal palace. She had heard him, but she hadn't seen him. And she didn't know where his co-rulers were.

Summer wielded a laser pistol. She had taken the weapon from the royal palace's armory, a room containing laser guns and other weapons. She ran on the hall's blue carpet, armed like the Freemans she had seen beyond the home.

Piles of Freeman warrior belongings rested on the floor, and so did strife daggers. If Theo got too close to any of those green weapons, he wouldn't be able to use his Saves.

"Theo!" Summer shouted. "Theo Majestic. Where are you?"

"Summer!" Theo said, but she didn't see him.

A man rounded the corner, pale-skinned and armed. He wielded a green dagger, one made from strife. The Freeman rushed toward Summer. If he killed her, she wouldn't see Anne, Nick, or Theo.

A Freeman had murdered Summer's parents. Or maybe more than one had been involved in the murder. Either way, Freemans deserved to die.

Summer took aim. Her laser pistol pointed at her enemy's forehead, and the weapon would defend herself and others.

She pulled the trigger.

Noise exploded from the gun. A blue laser blasted through the Freeman's forehead, and he dropped.

Sharp icicles pierced a Freeman woman's eyeballs. Theo must have done that to her. She collapsed onto the carpet, and her breathing stopped. The foe turned into smoke.

Theo stepped into the hall. He held no weapons, but he had Saves. He had forced icicles into a Freeman woman's eyeballs.

"Summer," Theo said.

He rushed toward the woman. She put her weapon on the floor. When Theo was close enough, they hugged.

"Lilly was right," Summer said. "The Freemans are attacking, and my parents are dead."

The hug ended.

"I'm sorry," Theo said. He gripped Summer's shoulders. "I have to get to my family. Follow me."

The youngest Majestic, Anne, lived inside the royal palace. Summer could help protect her. The baby didn't deserve to get killed by a Freeman.

"I'll get Anne," Summer said. She picked up her gun. "After I do that, I'll meet up with you."

"Anne is in my bedroom," Theo said. "Move fast."

Summer nodded. "I will."

She sprinted, gripping her laser pistol. It would help her survive the night.

Theo had refused to help Reed Pisces destroy all the Freemans. If Theo had slaughtered them, they wouldn't have been able to start attacking Soy. Because of him, Summer's mother and father had been murdered.

Summer stopped running, and turned. Theo stood near strife daggers. If she shot him, he wouldn't be able to rapidly regenerate.

"Theo!" Summer said. He faced her. "This is all your fault. My parents are dead because of you. Our planet is being attacked, and that's your fault, too."

Theo furrowed his brow.

"There isn't time to argue!" he said. "I need to get to my family. And I don't even know where the other Highs are."

The only High Summer seen was Theo, and he had a daughter she knew and loved.

The Freemans had launched an assault on Soy, and the Supreme High was supposed to turn six children into the new Soynite rulers. Theo stood near Summer in a hall. He hadn't gone to the outside of that spaceport yet, but he might.

"Make a new group of Highs." Summer said. "That's what you're supposed to do."

"And I'm going to," Theo said. "The Freemans are attacking, and that means I have to make new Highs. You know what I have to do. That's good, but I have to get my family to safety. And then I will make a new group of Highs."

Summer glared. "This is all your fault."

"Summer, please! I don't have time to argue with you."

"You can't keep anyone safe!"

She aimed her laser pistol at Theo's forehead, and he raised his muscular arms. He couldn't teleport to safety. Summer moved closer to him.

"You can't keep Anne safe!" she said. "But I can. I love that baby so much, and the Freemans are going to come for you. They're always going to keep coming for you. They won't stop."

"Put the gun down," Theo said. "We are going to leave this planet together. Me, you, and my family."

When Summer was born, Theo had been a High. When someone kidnapped Boris's granddaughter, Alice, he had been a High. Yesterday he had been one. Tonight his reign as a Soynite ruler might end.

"Are any of your co-rulers here?" Summer said.

"No," Theo replied. "I'm the only High here. Lower your weapon. I love you, Summer. Don't give me a reason to hurt you, please."

Theo couldn't use telekinesis to disarm Summer and slam her gun against her forehead. The strife daggers near him made that impossible.

"You can't hurt me," Summer said. "You're around strife, and I have a gun."

"What do you want?!" Theo shouted. "I'm trying to be calm, but that's difficult to do when you're aiming a gun at me."

On the first of December, Lilly had given birth to a Majestic, her fourth child. Summer had held that baby, a girl who didn't deserve to get killed in this home.

"I want your baby," Summer said. "I want Anne. If you don't give her to me, I will..."

Summer scowled.

"Just give me the baby, Theo!" she said.

Anne remained inside the bedroom she shared with Theo and Lilly, her parents. Summer could become Anne's new mother.

Theo shook his head.

"No!" he said. "I've already lost one child. You know that. Nova is gone, but Anne isn't. I have no doubt that you would protect her if you had her, but you're not her mother. My darling wife is."

On the first of December, Lilly had given birth to Anne. Summer couldn't deny Lilly was the baby's birth mother. But Summer could soon make Anne be her daughter.

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"If you put the weapon down, I won't treat you like an enemy," Theo said. "We don't have to hate each other. You've been good to me, and you've been good to my family. But you have to stop aiming that gun at me. That's what you need to do."

Strife daggers lay near Theo's shoes, and he couldn't use his powers to escape this situation. Summer had him at her mercy.

"Even if I do, it isn't going to change what the Freemans are doing," Summer said. "They're killing our people, but you're their main priority. You're the deadliest Soynite, and you have more authority than all of us."

Theo sighed. "I'm aware."

"If I let Anne live with you, Freemans might kill her," Summer said. "And it would be your fault. You should've joined Reed Pisces. You should've killed all the Freemans with him. Why couldn't you be like your distant aunt? Why couldn't you be like Nerra Majestic, who killed the first Freeman?"

Theo looked at the melting icicles on the floor. "I killed that Freeman woman."

"Too late."

"It's not too late for you to stop aiming that gun at me."

Summer didn't lower the weapon. Theo wouldn't stop her from taking Anne, his youngest child, a girl Summer could protect.

A woman ran into the hall, holding a toddler. Vera and Hailey.

"Summer!" Vera shouted. She wielded a Soynite laser pistol. "Drop your weapon."

"No!" Hailey said, as Summer aimed a gun at her father. "No."

Summer aimed at Theo's thigh, then pulled the trigger. A blue laser blasted through his leg. He shouted. The Supreme High collapsed onto the carpet, bleeding.

Vera and Hailey screamed, and the Bloodhound pointed her gun at Summer.

"Run!" Vera yelled. "Run, or I will kill you."

Summer had shot Theo, but he would heal if he moved away from the strife. She could rush out the hall before that happened.

"I'm sorry!" Summer said.

She turned and fled.

After rushing through several halls, she entered one Lilly and Nick ran in. They scurried toward each other. Lilly was close to Summer, but Nick was too far from them. A Freeman sprinted toward him, holding a strife dagger and a red laser pistol. He and Lilly were armed.

Summer took aim. A laser tore through the Freeman's head and he dropped onto the blue carpet. Lilly had shot him, not Summer.

"You're not going to kill my boy," Lilly said, armed with a Soynite laser pistol.

Nick fiddled with his fingers. The Freeman's corpse changed into smoke.

Lilly set her gun on the carpet, then kneeled. She and Nick hugged. After the embrace, he moved around his mother.

"Summer!" he said.

Summer had shot his father, and she planned on taking his youngest sister from her family. Lilly and Nick hadn't died. They could reach Anne.

Summer ran.

"Where are you going?!" Lilly said. "Summer."

Pristine ran into the hall, unarmed. A red laser blasted into her head, and her body hit the carpet.

"No!" Nick shouted.

Lilly opened fire, but she missed the enemy. The running Freeman carried a laser pistol and a strife dagger. The pale brute had killed Pristine, a woman who used to have nice chats with Summer. She could avenge her friend.

Summer pulled her Soynite pistol's trigger. The gun sent a laser launching toward the enemy. It cast a blue glow against his skin before tearing through his forehead.

A Freeman came, dashing. He held a strife dagger and a red laser pistol. Summer shot him in the head.

A pair of Freemans bolted into the hall. Two strife daggers. Two laser pistols. Summer opened fire twice, and her targets collapsed.

She sprinted.

"Summer, wait!" Lilly said. Summer kept running. "Summer."

Along the way to the bedroom Theo shared with Lilly, Summer encountered no Freemans.

Inside the room, Anne rested in her crib. She wore a blue outfit. No shoes. No socks. Her crib stood not far from her parents' bed, and the lamp in a corner glowed.

Knowing it would be easier to prevent herself from dropping Anne if she carried the baby with both arms, Summer turned on her Soynite gun's safety before putting it in her front pants pocket. She flipped the light switch nearby, and bright light flooded the huge room.

Blue spaceships were parked in the area behind the palace. Summer could take one, fly away from her doomed planet, and raise Anne at a place where no one could hurt or kill them. A safe place.

For years, the royal palace had been a home Freeman enemies had never entered. That had changed. But Summer and Anne could escape this dangerous house.

Anne's Soynite pendant rested on a shelf near the baby's crib. Summer went closer to it before putting it on. She approached the crib. Anne fiddled with her fingers before looking at Summer.

She forced herself to smile. "Hello, baby. We're going to go to a safe place."

Summer grabbed Anne, then lifted her out the crib. Laser beam fire erupted within the palace. The baby wailed.

"I got you, Anne," Summer said. "I love you so much. These terrible Freemans aren't going to hurt you. Your Watcher has you."

She smiled.

"Your mother has you," she said.

Summer's parents had been murdered. She had shot Theo in the leg, and he might consider her to be his enemy. Pristine had died. Freemans attacked the planet Summer had been born on.

Tears blurred her vision, and they left her blue eyes. Anne sobbed. Summer kissed the baby's forehead.

"I got you," she said. "I got you."

Anne stopped sobbing. She didn't have powers, but her father did. The Freemans had come to the palace with strife daggers. They knew how powerful Theo was. Summer had shot him, but she hadn't killed him. She loved him.

How many times had he greeted her?

She knew what Theo sounded like. Like she knew a person could change their voice to help disguise themself. Someday, Summer would hear Anne call her Mother.

"Okay, Anne," she said. "I'm going to get us out of here."

If Theo wasn't too close to strife, he could teleport his family and Vera to a different place, a safer one. The High owned more than one space station. He could take his loved ones to one.

"I got you, baby," Summer said, speaking to her new daughter.

Summer didn't encounter any Freemans during the trip to the royal palace's backyard.

Gray spaceships hovered in the night sky, unleashing red lasers from their turrets. None of them aimed at Summer.

Soy didn't have a military, or a police force. Watchers had been taught how to fight and kill, but they didn't belong to an organized military force. Summer had contributed to Soynite society by killing Freemans. Lilly had killed one. Summer's people didn't need a military to defeat Freemans, and Anne didn't need her birth parents.

Arranged in two rows, blue spaceships remained parked in the backyard. Massive outdoor lights provided bright illumination.

The side of the nearest Soynite spaceship faced the palace. A Freeman stepped into view, no longer hidden by the space vessel. He wielded a strife dagger and a red laser pistol. The enemy spotted Summer.

A laser blasted through his head.

Anne had heard the laser beam fire, and she wailed. Wounded, the Freeman dropped. Red blood left the hole in his head, contrasting with his white-as-snow skin. The liquid met grass. He stopped breathing, and his corpse became smoke. So did his blood.

Holly and Archer moved past the parked spaceship, holding Soynite pistols. The sweat on their foreheads glistened in the light, and they approached Summer.

"I killed that Freeman, but there are a lot more of them," Holly said. "Summer, where is Theo? Where are the others?"

"Where's my father?" Archer asked.

Theo's fellow Highs had been missing from the palace for hours.

"Boris isn't here," Summer said. "Theo is the only High who is, but he's probably gone. After he gets the others to safety, he's going to make new Highs."

Archer ran a finger along Anne's forehead. She had stopped wailing.

"And they let you keep Anne?" Archer said.

Summer had wounded Theo before taking Anne. He might have gone into his bedroom and seen the baby's crib, which didn't have the girl inside it. If Archer and Holly learn what Summer had done, they might try returning Anne to her birth parents.

"Run!" Summer shouted. Anne wailed. "Run and find your father, then get off this planet."

Holly and Archer didn't run.

Summer glared. "Go!"

Archer took a step back, but Holly didn't. Laser beam fire sounded in the distance. Freemans attacked Soy, and Summer hadn't escaped the planet yet.

"Come with us," Holly said. "All of us can find Theo and the others in the future, or they might find us. Right now, we have to get off this planet."

Archer nodded. "She's right. If we stay here, we'll get killed. I don't know where my father is, but we're going to get away from Soy. All of us, including the baby."

If Summer reunited with Theo and Lilly, they would try taking her daughter from her. The Watcher had shot Theo to give herself time to abduct Anne. Giving the baby back to her family would be foolish.

"I can't go with the two of you," Summer said. "Neither can Anne."

"Please, Summer," Archer said, as light touched his hair. "If you think we're just going to let you and Anne die, you're wrong."

"Summer, come with us," Holly said. "We need to get out of here."

Summer could leave with the couple, but escaping Soy with them might lead to Anne reuniting with Theo and Lilly. Archer and Holly had failed to keep Alice Endman safe. But Summer would protect Anne.

"Go!" Summer said, yelling. Anne wailed.

Holly glanced around. "Freemans probably heard all that noise, and Anne is still wailing. We really need to leave. Right now, Summer."

Archer and Holly might escape the planet with Boris, or they might not. Either way, Summer wouldn't flee with them.

"I hope the two of you find Boris," she said. "And I hope you find your daughter. Goodbye."

Someone had taken Alice from Archer and Holly, and Summer had taken Anne from Theo and Lilly. But the woman would caress Anne's blonde hair, feed her, and keep her alive. Summer was better than whoever had kidnapped Alice.

Holly put a hand on Anne's bare foot before kissing the baby's forehead.

"Don't let anything bad happen to this little one," Holly said. "Horrible things have happened to enough babies."

Archer touched Anne's forehead, then placed his hand on Summer's arm.

"Goodbye, Summer," he said. "Let's go, Holly."

Archer and Holly ran. Summer and Anne wouldn't join them. With or without Boris, the married couple might flee Soy with their lives.

Summer stood in the light, holding her baby. The small person who couldn't fight. Neither could she be with Theo or Lilly. But her new mother held her.

Summer looked at the Soynite spaceship closest to her. Freeman space vessels moved in the sky, but she could get past them. Her enemies wouldn't stop her from escaping.

"We're going to leave, Anne," Summer said. "And I'm going to love you forever."

A Freeman rushed closer and stabbed Summer in the forehead.