"Man, these guys never stop," Teresa twisted around the path of bullets firing right for her. Aware of Dr. Rodigues's tech, the more shots that hit the Zero Shield, the faster it drains its energy.
It's not like the jets and gunships can hurt her. But she is aware the Zero Shield doesn't last forever. And with the noise from all the engines in multiple directions, she's having trouble gauging where to dodge.
Straight ahead an airship looked straight at her, and red lights flashed. She approached with caution and slowed down.
"Teresa," Mr. Furyk spoke through its sound system. "Stop now. We're confident an explosion will close the wormhole."
"Not according to Stephanie."
"Stephanie wants to save herself."
"We're all human."
Streaks of smoke rose around all sides of the horizon. Missile after missile rose, hundreds of them, all heading straight for Mars. She watched in awe at the impending mass destruction on Mars, on Connor.
"Connor's still there."
"Tough."
"You're the worst. You only come to me when there are problems, and you barely ever congratulate me on my work. And now you're treating Connor this way even after all your America comes first speech—"
A missile collided with her. Not that she could feel it, but it shifted her mentality.
These people are legit trying to kill me.
Mr. Furyk continued. "Stop disobeying—"
Teresa flew at the airship and busted through its fuselage, the inner wall managed to hold together, and she pushed it to the ground, sending it all up in flames. They responded with more firepower.
Shit, she knew the Zero Shield only had so much power. But how much? To be quick, she grabbed some of the recent wreckage and flew it over to the hole she made leading down to the thirtieth floor. The crowd of officers dispersed as she got near, and she tossed the wreckage over the hole. At least this way, they can't throw any more stuff down there.
The stairs. She rushed to the building and began colliding against the walls near the top of the stairs to cover it, preventing more weaponry from getting in. The entire time she ignored the bullets and another missile crashing into her. It became surprisingly easy for her to get used to being invincible.
The elevator shaft. She flew through the dust the airships caused, began pulling apart the steel doors to damage the gears, went over to the backend, and yanked apart the steel cables.
A messy way to keep everyone out, but she felt proud of herself. The dust blew everywhere again, and a barrage of firepower pelted her. She rose higher, passing a few airships, and felt a pinch—a small pinch of pain.
Shit.
It was faint, but it was a bullet. The Zero Shield is fading.
She did another check on the contrails of the missiles. They've flown so high that it's nearly impossible to see their end. Each trail gradually converging onto the wormhole above. The sun began setting, and the stars around the edges of the wormhole amplified in luminosity, shining along the portion of Mars passing through.
She better hurry, Teresa thought.
She tried to circle to keep the airship's fire from hitting her, keeping an eye on the missiles hurtling toward Connor. She felt a few more pinches. Shit. She accelerated, hoping they'd miss.
It got eerie, and silent. The firing ceased, and the airships and jets scattered. She stopped midair and spun a few times to see what was transpiring. Nothing, as if a concert had ended and the crowd had left.
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A new light followed by a contrail went into the air, thicker than the others. No, closer. And it turned downwards, towards her, towards the ground to destroy everything.
Oh shit.
She hauled ass to intercept it higher into the darkened sky. She slowed down a little as she caught up to it to ready a catch.
She did not want to get hit by it. The Zero Shield grew weaker. She could feel it.
The missile turned to head straight down. She changed direction to match it, and carefully she approached it. Judging from what she knew, it didn't look like a nuke.
A bunker missile.
She managed to wrap her arms around it, like a pole vaulter, except the pole was four feet wide. With her fingers barely digging into the metal, she slowed herself down. The exhaust was loud, and the smoke grew as she and the missile stopped.
A second missile fired.
She planned to fly it into a mountain, but there was no time. She crushed the missile, and surprisingly, it didn't explode. She released it, and the engine sent it into a weird spinning motion drifting like an out-of-control helicopter.
She flew to the second missile as it turned downward. Again she matched speeds, wrapped her arms around the middle, and tried to crush it. It wasn't working. She couldn't overcome it like last time. The Zero Shield was failing, and she was riding along with it to its destination.
The ground grew closer. Shit. She tried to crush it again, but nothing.
The glow from the Zero Shield flickered, and the colors of her gravity suit stopped shining off of it.
Shit.
With a hand on each side of the missile, she tightened it against her waist and tried rotating it. The tip went upward, the boosters went downward, and the ground billowed the smoke as it neared a complete stop. And the boosters hit the ground, engulfing her in flames.
She flew with what energy her anti-grav suit had out of the smoke and slid onto the ground, rolling to a stop. The black plate on her neck, covering the button on her gravity suit, detached, and the Zero Shield disappeared. She grabbed it off the ground and tried to get it to work again, and nothing. She was defenseless. Any bullet, any piece of debris, would kill her.
And without the Zero Shield, she couldn't fly through the ground or lift the debris that covered the entrances she created.
She looked around the horizon. Aside from the contrails still heading for the wormhole, it looked clear. Hopefully, they don't fire a third missile.
A searing pain shot through her side, and she collapsed on her hands and knees. The glow of her gravity suit slowed, and the rotations of purples and blues paused like a car out of gas to a slow petering stop.
One hand held her side, and blood dripped out of it.
A ricochet hit next to her hand. Quickly she stood and made her way around the smoke of the downed bunker missile for cover. She checked her wound, and her waist got punctured on both sides.
She pressed the button on the back of her neck to release the anti-grav suit. Sudden surges of pain compounded with each small gesture as she stepped out of the suit, smushed it together and covered the two holes in her body with hopes she hadn't lost much blood. Even with her makeshift tourniquet, blood dripped down her leg.
The ground vibrated, and the noise of the airships rose. A light beamed onto her, then several more.
"That's enough, Teresa, we'll stop, but you're coming aboard." Mr. Furyk spoke through one of the mics. "I was wrong on letting you—"
The airship exploded, then another, and another, until there was no more.
Teresa knew who it was. It was different this time. The frustration Stephanie gave her turned to joy and hope. Perhaps it's what Connor felt when she took him in.
"Stephanie!" she screamed in pain. "I'm here!"
A beat later, Stephanie blipped near her and ran over. Stephanie didn't say a word as she knelt next to Teresa and spotted her wound. Teresa looked exhausted, and the blood was dripping down the side of her hip and legs shocked Stephanie to act quickly. Teresa smiled when she saw Stephanie.
"I've never seen Dr. Rodrigues's tech used as a tourniquet before." Stephanie knelt to her.
She about forgot her wound. "You didn't make the nanotech?"
"No, of course not."
Teresa always thought Stephanie's tech completely wrapped her suit. But it was someone else's, and she also gained help from him. She smiled at the realization Stephanie was rarely alone in her endeavors.
They blipped back down thirty floors right onto the rearranged plate.
It was the only time the principal spoke without a firm jaw. "Oh sweet Jesus," Thomas ran to Teresa and pressed down on her wound to apply more pressure. He was scared for her. A few weeks ago, he took her in to help her, perhaps even adopt her, and here she lay bleeding profusely, nearly naked, and wincing in pain. He felt guilty, failure, that one of his own got injured near his vicinity. Even with the advanced tech, they were using, with no way for him to keep pace, he gave himself no excuses. In his mind, her injury was his fault.
"Is there an infirmary down here?"
Teresa pointed. "If it's still intact."
He didn't hesitate. "Change of plans. Axel, this is your chance." Thomas tossed the silver Aeon Switch to Axel and also the watch. "I'm trusting you. Do what Stephanie orders." Thomas headed to the corridor.
Stephanie had her feet in a spacesuit as she acknowledged him.
"Alright, you're up to bat, Axel," she said as she put on the helmet. "Put your switch on the stand and let it charge. We need to turn dark matter into matter, and a lot of it."