Codes (Book 2)

Chapter 25: Claire

The landscape below us was barely recognizable. The charred Earth was littered with the remains of what were once cars, hovercrafts, and buildings. Bones and feathers settled over the wreckage, and there were even some almost complete human skeletons crushed under larger chunks of debris.  

All the humans were silent, staring in shock at what their planet had become. But, that wasn't the worst part. 

Hanging lightly over the ruins, so close to transparent that even I with my Lessaenite vision could barely see it, was a message written in blue strands of gossamer Aura. Each letter was at least as big as a car, too large to be read unless you were pretty high off the ground. It was obvious that the message was intended only for a certain person at a certain time. 

Enjoying the view, Vivi?  ;)

<3 Queen Sara

"Ugh!" My eyes flashed blue and I gritted my teeth. True, she was cold and evil, but why did she have to be so dang annoying. 

However, after a few seconds, an amazing idea started to form in my head. 

Raging won't help. I need to give her a taste of her own medicine. 

Reaching out and touching the window, I began to rearrange the letters as the hovercraft sailed past them, changing the message into a very different one. 

Yep! I really admire your work ;)

<3 Princess Viv

The letters instantly dissipated and were replaced by a thin mist, which soon rose above the ground, blending into the air. 

A piece of blue paper blew through the wind, plastering itself to the window of the hovercraft for a second. 

You are just like me, Vivi ;) 

<3 Your proud mother

I rolled my eyes, focusing all of my attention on driving the hovercraft. 

"President King! The GPS says to take a right!" Iveya yelled. 

Uh oh. I didn't know how to turn this thing.

I tried slowly shifting the joystick to the right, and the hovercraft groaned as it shifted. For a second, I let go, and I felt the entire floor begin to sink. Hurriedly, I pulled the joystick up and we began to gain altitude. 

"I think there's someone down there!" Kelly tapped me on the shoulder, pointing at the ground. 

Squinting, I looked out the window. Sure enough, I could make out the tiny shape of a man stumbling across the barren Earth, flailing his arms wildly in an attempt to get our attention. 

"Let's go down," I said, slowly letting go of the joystick and letting the craft drift downward. 

"How do you know you can trust him?" Ellie narrowed her eyes. "He could be an alien." 

"He could also be a human survivor," I said. "It's worth a try." 

"Whatever you say," Ellie shrugged as we began to glide across the ground. 

"Thank you," the man sighed, standing in front of the hovercraft's windshield. Surprisingly, we could actually hear him through the thick glass. 

"What do you want?" I asked. 

"I'm running of oxygen...I'll die soon if you don't let me on your hovercraft. I promise I'm not infected, I checked just this morning," he panted. 

"Why should we trust you?" Iveya asked. 

"I know who you are," he said matter-of-factly. "You're the kids from Williamson's Module, and you're headed to his spaceship. Old Lucas told almost everyone in town before he died. Now, I'm guessing none of you know how to safely operate a spaceship. You'll never make it to Rhena without me."

"He has a point, we could use his help," Iveya shrugged, looking at me. 

"Okay, let him on, but make sure you shut the door as soon as possible and turn all the air filters on. We don't want to be breathing any of the toxic mess outside," I said. 

"Sure thing, President King," Iveya nodded, unlocking a side door just long enough for the man to clamber onboard our hovercraft. 

"Hi," he smiled softly, wiping his grimy hands on his faded, torn jeans and shaking my hand. "I'm Cameron Dawes."

"I'm..." I paused for a second, about to say 'Claire King,' but deciding against it. I was out of the Program, Claire King didn't exist anymore. "Viviana Arystenn." 

"Arystenn?" Cameron gasped, quickly stepping away.

Please don't say it, please don't say it!

"You're one of them?" 

"Who's them?" Priya gave me a suspicious glance. 

"Yeah," said Theo. "You've already told us you're a Lessaenite. Is there still something you're hiding." 

"Viviana is the lost princess of Lessaenes. She went missing more than ten years ago. If you didn't know that, then there it is." 

"A princess? So you're...the evil queen's daughter, Claire?" Ellie gasped. 

"But I hate her! She banished me!" I pleaded. "If I wanted to turn on you, I'd have done it already!"

"Fine, but Cameron and Viviana," Iveya said my real name cautiously, like she was trying to get used to it. "We'll be keeping our eyes on you. Do anything suspicious and you're out." 

"Okay," I gulped. 

Thanks a lot, Cameron. Whoever you are.